Tiger Mug

A tiger mug brings the animal to the table at the slowest moment of the day, close enough to meet its stare over the rim of the first coffee. The mugs in this collection show it in several ways: as a watercolor portrait drifting among butterflies, as a burst of pop-art color, as a photograph of two tigers resting in the grass that wraps all the way around, and as a mug sculpted into the shape of a tiger head.

Watercolor tigers in blue and violet

Most designs are printed on a white mug with a wide, rounded handle, which leaves plenty of space around the artwork and lets its colors stand out. The Fantastic Tiger Mug shows a tiger head painted in blues, violets and white, its fur breaking into loose drips of color below the chin, with small purple and blue butterflies fluttering around its ears and cheeks. The nose is a soft pink, and the eyes are a pale blue that matches the rest of the coat.

The Tiger Butterfly Mug works with a similar palette but arranges it differently. A white tiger washed in lilac, sky blue and touches of green looks straight ahead with pale blue eyes, and a single large butterfly in rainbow shades spreads its wings just beneath its chin, as if it had landed there. Small dots of blue and violet paint are scattered around both, the way watercolor spatters across a page.

Pop art and paint splashes

The Pop-Art Face Tiger Mug breaks the face into shards of color. Pink, yellow, blue and green facets build the head, the eyes glow aqua green, and black triangles stack up below the chin while thin streaks of paint run down toward the base. Another design uses the same energy with a looser hand: a tiger head made almost entirely of paint splatter in red, blue, yellow and green, with only the eyes, nose and whiskers drawn in detail. A third mixes halftone dots, teal and pink blots and a pink triangle beneath a tiger face.

A tiger mug sculpted as a head

The Tiger Head Mug does away with the flat surface altogether. The whole cup is the tiger's head, with ears rising above the rim, amber eyes ringed in black, a red nose and a white muzzle dotted where the whiskers grow. The handle is the tiger's tail, curving out from the side in orange with black bands. Brow, cheeks and muzzle are modeled in relief and painted with black stripes under a glossy finish, so the mug looks as good sitting on a shelf as it does in use.

Two tigers all the way around

The Tiger Coffee Mug carries a single photograph that wraps around the whole body of the mug. Two tigers lie in pale, dry grass, facing each other as if in quiet conversation, one stretched out with its striped tail along the ground and the other resting on its front paws. The picture fades into a dark shadow toward the rim and the base, which frames the scene like an old print, while the inside of the mug stays white. Turning the cup reveals the scene a little at a time.

Print, photograph or sculpture

Each style has its own character. The watercolor mugs are soft and airy, with lots of white around the artwork. The pop-art and splash designs are louder and more graphic, built from bright color and sharp shapes. The photographic mug is the closest to watching tigers in the wild, and the sculpted head works as a small piece of decor as much as a cup. Every mug in the collection comes in a single version, exactly as pictured on its product page, so there are no sizes or colors to choose between.

Why tigers look so good on a mug

A tiger's face reads at a glance, framed by a ruff of pale fur and crossed by stripes that already form a bold graphic pattern, which is why artists come back to it so often. No two tigers share the same stripes either: the pattern is unique to each animal, much like a fingerprint, so every painter can make the face their own. Watercolor softens it, pop art breaks it apart, and photography keeps every hair, yet the animal stays recognizable in each case.

Proverbs to read over coffee

The tiger has filled proverbs for centuries, and a few of them suit a quiet cup. One Chinese saying points out that even the tiger needs sleep, which feels about right for the first coffee of the day, and a Cambodian proverb holds that the tiger relies on the forest just as the forest relies on the tiger. Our article on proverbs and quotes about the tiger gathers many more, from writers such as Victor Hugo and William Shakespeare to old sayings from across Asia.

A small gift with a big cat on it

A mug is one of the easiest presents for anyone who loves tigers, because it gets used every day and seen every time. The butterflies and pastel watercolors make a soft, cheerful gift, while the Tiger Head Mug becomes a conversation piece on any shelf. Our wider collection of tiger accessories holds plenty of other small gifts, from keychains and patches to backpacks and phone cases.

Company on the desk and in the kitchen

A mug often ends up on a desk, and a tiger mouse pad keeps it company there, with designs running from two cubs resting on a branch to a neon tiger on a long gaming mat. In the kitchen, a tiger candy mold shapes chocolate and cake decorations into tigers, among them a whole tiger lying on a rock and a finely detailed tiger head.

A few common questions about the mugs

Is there a mug shaped like a tiger?

Yes. The Tiger Head Mug is sculpted as a full tiger head, and the tail forms the handle.

Which mugs show a white tiger?

The Tiger Butterfly Mug shows a white tiger painted in lilac and blue, and the tiger on the Fantastic Tiger Mug has a white and blue coat as well.