Slip dripping: a handmade ceramic technique born in 2018
Early May marked 2 years of MOCA Tableware, but the porcelain slip dripping technique we developed actually goes back to 2018!
Today, I want to give you a closer look at the technique that makes us truly unique: the dripping and our machine. Back in 2018, Carla and I were still students at the Design Academy Eindhoven, and we started experimenting with different industrial processes and materials during a workshop. We had absolutely no specific goal: just pure research to find new ideas!
The origins of the project
At first, we melted wax in an extrusion tube and let it drip. Then we quickly moved on to ceramics, starting with earthenware. We immediately saw the incredible potential in that simple drip movement. There was a real beauty in the way that the liquid landed and moved.
Every week, we tested new ways of doing it, new colour mixes. We started building our first dripping machine, then version 2, and so on! At the same time, we began testing the dripping technique on all kinds of plaster moulds to see what happens.
With each improvement, we “unlocked” new possibilities until we eventually created large, open and fragile earthenware structures. It was a way of pushing the limits of the material, and getting them out of the moulds is still a real challenge! It all became our shared graduation project.
Alongside all this research, we launched a first production run of porcelain tableware: mugs and bowls first, with a dripping pattern. This was to earn our first euros and reinvest in our research/diploma! That research and graduation project opened the doors to museums and exhibitions, and brought us our first customers buying our porcelain collections. An incredible start for two young designers!
The development of MOCA Tableware
Unfortunately, we found ourselves being called on exclusively for ceramic projects, even though we see ourselves first and foremost as product designers. Carla and I made the decision to change focus to much broader collections: furniture, lamps and other products (see studiojoachimmorineau.com). But in parallel, we kept producing our bowls and mugs with our porcelain slip dripping technique, setting up our ceramic studio in Strijp-T in Eindhoven.
Until 2024, when we decided to give our ceramic project its own identity: MOCA Tableware, a brand fully dedicated to our technique. This came after our artist residency at the European Ceramic Centre in Oisterwijk, where we refined our process and continued our dripping research.
At the end of 2024, we expanded our range with two new plate sizes, from a dessert plate to a 19 cm plate. This time, the dripping wasn’t liquid porcelain anymore: it was glaze, creating the pattern directly in the hollow of the plate. And in 2025, we finally started the production of our 24 cm dinner plates!
Since then, Jordan has moved to France, to Nantes. We now work between two countries, with two production spaces, and our network keeps growing! We’re also improving our machine with the help of artificial intelligence: perfect for coding when it’s really not our strongest skill. And we’re planning new dripping techniques using controlled nozzles.
There’s still a long road ahead, but we hope you’ll follow us closely. You can do so on Instagram!
Jordan & Carla
