Did You Know The Modern Mug Is Thousands Of Years Old?

7 Oct 2021

As autumn approaches with the cold and grim weather it brings, one of its most delightful comforts is the return of the warm brew, served in personalised mugs that keep us all warm and toasty regardless of the weather around us.

However, the origin of the mug is far older than you may think, and the first mugs are potentially over 7000 years old.

When the very first mug was created is actually unknown, as there is a very good chance that wood mugs have existed since the earliest invention of woodworking tools but have sadly been lost to time.

However, 7,500 years ago it is believed that the potter’s wheel was invented, which made pottery accessible to more people. In fact, one of the easiest creations you can make out of clay was a clay cup, which with the help of a tiny bit of extra clay to use as a handle, could easily become a mug.

When the first mug was created with clay is probably still unknown, but we do know that sophisticated clay mugs were found in ancient Greece as early as 5000BC.

The only issue with clay is that it is a very thick material, and as a result, the walls of the mug were often too thick to easily drink from.

The dawn of metalworking helped here, creating metal mugs made of bronze, gold, silver and even lead, which allowed for cold drinks to be sipped more easily, but hot drinks often made the soft metals warp or even melt.

Around 600 AD, porcelain was invented, which was not only thinner, but could also be enjoyed with any kind of drink you could possibly want, and porcelain mugs are still used to this very day.

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