A Grogg is a clay caricature made at the family run John Hughes world of Groggs which was established in 1965 in Trefforest

Trefforest

Treforest is a village in the south-east of Pontypridd in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales situated in the Treforest electoral ward along with the village of Glyntaff , being part of the Pontypridd Community...

 near Pontypridd

Pontypridd

Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...

, Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. Most Groggs are 9 inches tall or less and are made of a type of clay. Groggs are usually made of Popular Welsh rugby players, Welsh celebrities and the occasional non Welsh celebrity. Whenever possible the person who is grogged is presented with the first Grogg produced. They are moulded and painted by hand and a Grogg can take many weeks from the master copy being made to the first one being painted.

History

John Hughes started flirting with ceramics and pottery as early as 1956 with a kiln in his garden shed. But it wasn't till 1967 that his rugby figures were born. In 1971 the family purchased the derelict Dan-y-Graig pub in Treforest near Pontypridd

Pontypridd

Pontypridd is both a community and a principal town of Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales and is situated 12 miles/19 km north of the Welsh capital city of Cardiff...

 and opened the Grogg shop as it was then called. The business remains there to this day.
In 2001 the founder of the business and the inventor of the Groggs John Hughes was presented with Chancellor's medal from the University of Glamorgan

University of Glamorgan

The University of Glamorgan is a university based in Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales with campuses in Treforest, Glyntaff, Merthyr Tydfil, Tyn y Wern and Cardiff...

 in recognition of his contribution to Welsh life. Most of the designing and pottery is now done by John's son Richard Hughes with his daughter Catherine responsible for painting the finished Groggs. The figures are called Groggs after the type of clay

Grog (clay)

Grog, also known as firesand and chamotte, is a ceramic raw material. It has high percentage of silica and alumina. It can be produced by firing selected fire clays to high temperature before grinding and screening to specific particle sizes. It can also be produced from pitchers...

 that was originally used to make them.

Production numbers

Groggs are usually limited to 300 or 500 pieces, after which the mould is destroyed. In 2005, following Wales' rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 victory in the six nations

Six Nations Championship

The Six Nations Championship is an annual international rugby union competition involving six European sides: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales....

 by winning the grand slam

Grand Slam (Rugby Union)

In rugby union, a Grand Slam occurs when one team in the Six Nations Championship manages to beat all the others during one year's competition...

, a limited edition Grogg was produced to commemorate the event. The production run was limited to 151 pieces, being the number of points Wales scored during the competition. The Grand Slam Grogg sold out within 2 days of going on sale.

Sponsorship

The Hughes family are well-known supporters of Principality Premiership club, Pontypridd RFC

Pontypridd RFC

Pontypridd Rugby Football Club, known as Ponty, are a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, currently playing in the British and Irish Cup, Principality Premiership, and are the current SWALEC Cup champions....

, and in 2009, the World of Groggs became official sponsors of the club's website.

MBE

John Hughes the founder maker of Groggs was awarded the MBE

MBE

MBE can stand for:* Mail Boxes Etc.* Management by exception* Master of Bioethics* Master of Bioscience Enterprise* Master of Business Engineering* Master of Business Economics* Mean Biased Error...

in June 2010 for his services to UK ceramics.