The pen cup on a light oak desk beside a laptop keyboard and a white mug: five green bamboo stalks rising from a dark pond, a brown otter floating at the front right

Otter Bamboo Pen Cup

An otter floats on its back in a navy pond, and the bamboo stalks around it are deep pen wells.

The pond

The base is a navy pond 0.9 in deep, with ripples running round its rim. Stalks and all, the cup measures 5.1 × 3.9 × 3.3 in.

Weight, low down

Under the otter, 2 steel washers sit inside the base, out of sight. That puts weight at the bottom, where a cup full of pens needs it.

Every stalk is a well

The stalks are the pen holes, and each one runs down through the pond to just above the desk. Even the short ones hold a pen deep.

The otter

The otter floats on its back in its own patch of water, 2.4 in from nose to tail, with its cream face turned your way.

Two small trays

A pool sunk into the water at the front left holds paper clips. The otter's belly is a second dish, for the one you need next.

Knock it, it rocks back

Full of pens, the cup leans all the way to 45.4° before it goes over.

Three sizes of well, all of them deep.

Seen side by side at true scale. The waterline is the top of the pond; below it, each stalk keeps going until it nearly meets the desk.

1.0 in across, 3.2 in deep

The tall dark pair at the back corners, 3.3 in high. 3 pens side by side still stand nearly straight in one.

Dashed: the inside of each stalk. Hatched: the pond base.

Up close

It takes a patch of desk a little smaller than a postcard, 5.1 × 3.9 × 3.3 in with the stalks, and weighs 5.6 oz.

The pen cup on a study desk beside an open notebook and a small lamp in warm evening light — On the homework desk, next to the notebook. The lamp catches the jade.

The cup straight from the front: the tall dark stalks at each end, three jade stalks between, the otter at the right — From the front: tall at the ends, short in the middle, so every pen top is easy to reach.

The pen cup held in two open hands just above a wooden desk — It sits easily in two open hands.

The cup from the back left: the dark green stalks in front of the jade ones, the pond base curving round them — The back is finished like the front, leaves and all.

The cup from the left side: stalks of three heights, leaves on the jade ones, the round clip pool at the front edge of the pond — From the left, with the clip pool right at the front edge.

Where everything goes.

The pond from straight above. Pick a spot to see what it holds.

Flat map of the cup from above: five round stalk tops, the otter at the right, the navy pond around them

5 wells, each closed at its foot just above the desk. Nothing slides out underneath.
A 1.5 × 0.6 in pool sunk into the water at the front left, sized for standard paper clips.
The otter's belly is a 1.2 × 0.6 in dish: a few small clips, or a little eraser.
2 steel washers under the otter's seat, out of sight. With them a full cup tips at 45.4°; it would take 43.7° without.

The cup photographed from above: five open stalk tops, the clip pool at the front left, the otter on its back at the right — The same view, as a photograph.

Otter Bamboo Pen Cup

A pond, an otter and a stand of bamboo that holds your pens.

5 stalks, 1 otter, 1 pond.

1: pond base in navy, with the clip pool sunk into it
5: bamboo stalks, dark green at the back and jade in front
1: otter in dark oak, cream face, black eyes and nose
2: steel washers, inside the base under the otter

Size: 5.1 × 3.9 × 3.3 in, wide by deep by tall
Weight: 5.6 oz
Pen wells: 5, from 0.9 to 1.3 in across
Deepest well: 3.2 in
Trays: clip pool 1.5 × 0.6 in; belly tray 1.2 × 0.6 in
Steadiness: tips only past 45.4° when full
Material: PLA in 6 colours; steel washers

The cup from low at the front left on a pale backdrop: dark stalks behind, jade stalks with leaves in front, the otter at the right edge of the pond

Good to know

What is it made of?

PLA plastic in 6 colours: a navy pond, dark green and jade stalks, a dark oak otter with a cream face, black eyes and a black nose. The 2 washers inside the base are steel.

Will it tip over when it's full?

Not easily. The base is wide and the weight sits low, with steel washers under the otter. Full of pens, the cup leans all the way to 45.4° before it goes over.

What fits in the stalks?

The back pair are 1.0 in across and 3.2 in deep, the middle pair 0.9 in and 2.6 in, and the front stalk 1.3 in and 2.1 in, wide enough for a pair of 5 in scissors. Pencils, pens, markers and highlighters all stand in them.

Where do paper clips go?

Into the pool sunk into the water at the front left, 1.5 × 0.6 in, sized for standard paper clips. The otter's belly is a second, smaller dish of 1.2 × 0.6 in.

How big is it?

5.1 × 3.9 × 3.3 in with the stalks, a little smaller than a postcard on the desk, and it weighs 5.6 oz.