the manufactory

My name is Sven, and I love crafting high-quality ceramics. The first coffee in the morning before I head into the workshop is always a special moment for me. And special moments deserve special ceramics. Produced in small batches, each mug and cup is unique, just like you and me. This makes alittleceramics ceramics truly special. Small variations in shape and, above all, in the glaze may occur. And that's a good thing.

As a very small manufacturer, I specialize in the production of coffee mugs, cups, and ceramic containers. I also teach a twice-weekly ceramics workshop at the Thomas Müntzer School in my neighborhood.

With a lot of love for this beautiful craft.

Sven | Ceramicist

In my workshop, I work with stoneware clay from the Westerwald region. All my pieces are hand-thrown on the potter's wheel and fired densely at 1240°C - 1280°C, depending on the glaze used.

And then the glazing begins. Apart from the preparation, this is the best part for me. Each firing involves testing. I use only my own glazes, which I have developed and calculated myself. These are completely durable and free from questionable raw materials. The glazes are always based on silicon, a feldspar, chalk, and kaolin. The variety comes from coloring oxides, such as iron. It's a truly exciting, beautiful, but also time-consuming process. A good two years have passed from the initial ideas and tests to the glazes I can now offer in my shop.

Iron oxide gives this glaze its earthy hue and is a very useful glaze raw material. Inexpensive to purchase and versatile, it was one of the first coloring oxides I experimented with. From a honey-yellow shade to a rich earthy brown, it offers a multitude of possibilities for the curious ceramist.

Coffee & Ice is one of those glazes that I didn't have to think twice about. From the moment I took it out of the oven for the first time, I was more than won over. It remains our best-selling glaze to this day.

A truly elegant and timeless glaze. The delicate caramel note is created by the addition of rutile , which is titanium dioxide contaminated with iron. Like iron oxide, it's an inexpensive and easy-to-handle glaze raw material. Rutile can also be used to create beautiful ceramic ink colors. These are applied to the ceramic with a brush and gain expressiveness through the additional application of a transparent glaze.

The glaze also works very well with the dark clay.

With copper oxide, you can achieve beautiful shades of green all the way up to a rich turquoise. The craftsman's imagination knows no bounds. Copper is also an uncomplicated raw material for firing. In traditional wood firing, the oxide produces a stunning red. Building my own wood-fired kiln is also high on my wish list. But a few cups and cans still have to leave the workshop. In any case, it was crystal clear that I would add a beautiful turquoise to my repertoire.

I love this glaze, like a day at the sea.

The newest member of my glaze family, which has made it to series production. During testing, it proved difficult to develop a glaze that could stand up to the dark clay, as my base glaze is semi-opaque and the clay had a huge influence on the colors. However, when I tested the base glaze without any additives, I hit the jackpot. The clay took over the task of coloring. My glazes are also very flexible, which creates this beautiful gradient from dark to white.

A pink glaze like this is achieved by adding tin oxide and chromium oxide . The combination of both raw materials is crucial. Tin is typically used for a white glaze. It's truly the best oxide for this, and it creates a very beautiful, pleasant, and warm white. This can be clearly seen on the drinking rims of the cups. However, adding a little chromium results in a brilliant pink. I've since increased the chromium content in the recipe to make the color a bit more vibrant.

Along with cobalt oxide, tin oxide is by far the most expensive raw material in the workshop. Prices have exploded in recent years, reaching three-digit levels per kilo.

Chromium oxide, on the other hand, is moderately priced. When fired, it's very reactive with other neighboring glazes, making it particularly interesting to me. On its own, chromium produces a rich, cooler green.