Parra Animal House Mug White

Parra Animal House Mug White: three odd animals in a circle around your cup

Three animals, zero explanation. Around the mug: a teal-blue bird with pink wings and a red tail, planted on two long blue legs. An odd red four-legged creature with a pointed snout and rabbit ears, walking on legs in three different colors. And a bird with a blue body and red head, with a pink hoop spinning around its neck. The drawing is Parra's Animal House artwork: flat color blocks, a thick black outline, colors that don't fit the usual boxes, and a deliberately off-kilter anatomy. It's the line work of the Amsterdam label built around Piet Parra's graphic work, which has always preferred strange characters to clean logos. The mug plays the scene back as you turn it, and every angle tells something different. A desk or kitchen object that doubles as a decor piece.

The mug is porcelain, a material with a smooth, glossy surface that keeps the artwork's colors crisp. It measures 8 cm in diameter by 10 cm in height, and holds 450 ml, or 15 oz, a generous size. The print is on the side, with the drawing running all the way around the cup, and the Parra logo is printed in black on the bottom. The inside is glazed burgundy red, picking up the artwork's palette, and the rim shows a red edge that cleanly separates the white outside from the colored inside. The handle is ear-shaped, rounded and thick, extending the drawn look of the whole piece. The mug comes in a gift box. Sold individually.

A mug you use every day has to handle the dishwasher, the microwave and the odd knock. This one is microwave and dishwasher safe, which covers most of the upkeep. The porcelain has a stable base and a surface that doesn't hold onto coffee or tea smells, and the 450 ml capacity lets you settle in with a long coffee or a hot chocolate without going back for a refill. The glossy inside glaze wipes clean with a quick pass of a sponge. To keep the print crisp for longer, avoid abrasive sponges on the artwork. A mug built to be used, with enough going on to get noticed on a desk.