Carved Hummingbird Tumbler

My carved hummingbird tumbler is a unique piece of functional art. It was created by pouring 7 layers of different coloured porcelain slip into a mould. Once released from the mould, I carved through the layers of porcelain to create the 2 hummingbirds and the flowers on the sides. Next, I carved the inner lip of the mug, revealing some layers of colour and creating a comfortable thickness to drink from. Once bisque fired, I glazed the mug in a glossy clear. As the clear glaze was a litte cloudier than expected, muting the colours of the hummingbirds, I used a dremel to sand the glaze off the burds and then sealed them with art epoxy.There’s a tiny nick on the inner rim that doesn’t affect the functionality of the piece. It can be used for hot or cold drinks, but as the porcelain is thin where carved, please don’t use boiling water to avoid getting burnt (the surface gets very hot).
These multi-layered and carved pieces take many many hours to make and I hope you agree that the results are worth the time. Hand wash only.