A Real Grail: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

So after looking about a bit, I couldn't seem to find any real Grail cups from Indiana Jones. Real, as in actual fired and glazed, usable ceramic. So what to do? Make one.

Since there were so many different versions produced for the film, I have decided to call this "The Screencap Cup". I took this screencap from the first moment in the film that we get an actual good look at the cup:



From there I drew the profile shown. Once I had the profile done, I was pleased to see that the dimensions perfectly matched what was listed in The Best Of The Lucasfilm Archives at 11cm x 15cm.

A model was then created in Rhino and exported for 3d printing:



The printed cup is actually a bit larger, since the clay will shrink after drying and being fired.

Molds were made and the clay was slip cast in two parts which were then joined:



After drying and some finish work, the clay cup was fired to 1850F.



The next step was to apply a glaze to the cup and re-fire. At the time, I didn't have the correct glazes on had to replicate the colors of the screen used cup, but I still wanted to test one. The result:



A very nice, all food safe usable rustic carpenters cup. Holds 10 ounces of healing water or your favorite beverage.

The best part is, my wife had no idea what I was making, but when she saw it on the counter she said "It looks like something ***** would've used." Just what I was going for!

Next up: Start testing glaze combinations to get the right look for the cup including a gold overglaze on the interior.

Stay tuned.

-GG

Is this something that you might consider selling? To have a grail to actually drink from would be amazing

Really interested in this project. Could you share some measurements of your Grail? It looks really similar in it's curves and all.

Looking forward on how will you finish it.

Congrats

Very cool. Nice work indeed.

Thanks,

I pretty much just took the screencap above and drew that profile. I think the cap is actually pretty straight on to the cup. Once I had the profile on the left side, I just mirrored it to the right side. From there, I scaled it up to the 15cm height listed in the book and once I did that it was 11cm wide, which also matches the book. Although the cup shown in the book has a bit different profile, I still think it's a valid approach to use it as the "official" dimensions.

dlambert said:

Really interested in this project. Could you share some measurements of your Grail? It looks really similar in it's curves and all.

Looking forward on how will you finish it.

Congrats

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That may be an option... If I can get the glazing right. I would also cast these in terra cotta to start with, but my local supply house refuses to make terra cotta slip.

stuartwitts said:

Is this something that you might consider selling? To have a grail to actually drink from would be amazing

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Thank you very much.

matty matt said:

Very cool. Nice work indeed.

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Gordon Gekko said:

The best part is, my wife had no idea what I was making, but when she saw it on the counter she said "It looks like something ***** would've used." Just what I was going for!

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You really can't ask for a better reaction than that.

I always thought the cup was made from bronze but I like what you have done with this iconic prop.

I've been wanting to do a usable version of this cup forever, myself. Just don't have the resources to do it locally. Quite envious of this project.

There are matte glazes out there that you can mix to simulate the wear on the cup. It'd have to applied last but I think if you're clever enough, you could make it look like it is layered under the wear on the outside of the cup.

Bit of an update. Testing out glazing options.






I don't think I'll ever be able to get this to match the screen used look of the cup, but for something that is completely functional, I'm pretty happy with it right now.

That looks awesome! Feels more "real" to me than even the original cup, which I always thought seemed a little too much like a painted prop. Are the metallic glazes still food-safe?

Patattack said:

That looks awesome! Feels more "real" to me than even the original cup, which I always thought seemed a little too much like a painted prop. Are the metallic glazes still food-safe?

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Thanks for the kind words. 100% dinnerware glaze.