A rare 1977 handmade Rumph Obi-Wan Kenobi tankard is a highlight of my collection. An almost one-of-a-kind item.
I first wrote about my 1977 hand-sculpted Jim Rumph Obi-Wan Kenobi tankard in a past RetroZap.com article. I really love this piece of my Star Wars collection. It’s unique and I don’t know anyone else that has one (other than Rancho Obi-Wan).
Each time a look at this mug I’m blown away by the detail on it. It’s a spot-on likeness of Sir Alec Guinness. The blue eyes are so striking. It’s hard to believe a person made this by hand. There are even fabric folds/wrinkles on the hood! The artist was Jim Rumph, and he made a small variety of these tankards in 1977 for 20th Century Fox. I’ve never seen the other mugs in person before, the Darth Vader or Chewbacca mugs. Hopefully I can collect all three some day.
I highly recommend checking out my information on Jim Rumph (therumph.com). His story is facinating; unfortunately he passed away in 1993 at the age of 51. But he created several pieces of pottery and art, which are definitely worth reading about.
This is the bottom of the tankard, and the Rumph! logo is clearly visible. Since it has the artist’s name, that means this mug is one of the handmade mugs for sure. Others that became mass produced did not have the artist name on them. My tankard also has the number 97 stamped on it, so I’m sure it’s number 97 of a certain number of runs. Which is pretty cool honestly. It truly means this is a one of a kind, that even though there are other mugs from the same lot, each is just a bit different.
For more information and details, plus pictures, of this Obi-Wan Kenobi tankard, check out my original article at retrozap.com.
Courtney Martin is a graduate of Indiana University and works in publishing. She’s an avid Star Wars fan and wrote the recipe blog Courtney Cooks Star Wars on suvudu.com. When not enveloped a science fiction or fantasy novel, she is watching television with her husband and son, doing crossword puzzles, or playing with her Shih Tzu, Burt.