Chuma Cup & Coffee

Chuma Maweni was born in Gqeberha in 1976 and began working with clay as a child, shaping cattle from riverbank mud in the Eastern Cape. He trained in ceramic design, spent years teaching ceramics in rural communities, and opened his own Cape Town studio in 2016. His work is held in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and his first solo exhibition opened at Southern Guild, Cape Town, in 2024.

Each cup takes Chuma about a week. He throws it on the wheel in a few minutes, lets it firm up, then trims it by hand with a metal tool, which is where the ridges come from, before two firings to 1165°C. Both colours are stoneware: a charcoal-black clay for the dark cups, a white clay for the light.

The turquoise-green glaze is personal. It takes him back to the green fields of the Eastern Cape, where he played with clay as a boy while looking after the cattle, and to the moment he left his job to start out on his own. The lighter cups are finished in a glaze he calls Oats, a warm neutral like the sun-faded houses of the Transkei, with an amber interior the colour of winter grass burnt by the sun.

“It doesn’t have handles, so you have to hold it fully with your hand, and you connect to it.” – Chuma Maweni

Size and care: each cup holds around 140–150ml, just right for an espresso, a cortado or a short filter pour. Because every cup is handmade, shape, size and glaze vary slightly. Dishwasher safe.

Christmas: order by 12 December for guaranteed Christmas delivery. Orders after that ship by 21 December but can’t be guaranteed. Our shop is closed 22 December to 4 January.

Arrives safely: each cup is individually wrapped and double-boxed. If one arrives damaged, email photos to hello@cuppersjourney.com within 48 hours and we’ll replace it.