Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

Chinese glazed porcelain blue turquoise teapot in the shape of the longevity peach.

Kangxi period 1662 – 1722

 

Wonderful teapots ….. but can they make a cuppa ?

 

I have been trying to fathom for ages what makes ceramicists succumb to quirky fits of madcap creativity and bold innovation when they become  immersed in the creation of a teapot.

Ever since Sheng Nun sipped his first cup of tea and extolled its virtues, the Chinese have held the beverage in high esteem and produced very refined teapots as a sign of respect. The Japanese turned tea drinking into a religion, but I think that was more to escape their strict Zen masters and their beatings. A Geisha girl was nowhere near as threatening. The Indians emulated the British Rule and took up tea consumption, but abandoned the teapot in favour of throwing everything into an aluminium pot, tea leaves, milk and every spice under the sun, to whip up a chai brew.

The Americans held a mild disdain for the habit, preferring the sharper caffeine hit of coffee. So to them a teapot wasn’t really that useful, and any functional practicality went out the studio window in favour of adventurous decorative designs. Maybe that’s why you rarely see quirky, zany coffee pots. They revere the brew too much. The Italians love their coffee, they need the caffeine to sustain their rapid hand gestures. Tea drinking isn’t really their cup of tea. The Aussies were predominately tea drinkers till coffee crept into use due to the social preference for the latte and their cute froth patterns. The English still love their tea, but are also known to create odd looking teapots, but maybe that’s more because of their eccentric leanings. As far as New Zealand goes in the beverage stakes, I have no idea what their preference might be, but I’m featuring some wonderful contemporary teapots by New Zealander Rick Rudd.  Even though I have already done an instalment on teapots , I have seen a lot more curious and fascinating designs this year so I’m including a new post of artistic tempest in teapot creations.

Contemporary teapot – Rick Rudd

 

 

Turquoise Teapot – Rick Rudd   NZ

 

 

Black ceramic teapot – Rick Rudd

 

 

Contemporary styled teapot – Rick Rudd

 

 

      A teapot with sleek modernist lines

 

 

Rick Rudd

Rick Rudd teapot

Rick Rudd’s site here

Black gourd teapot  – Richard Bresnahan

Matt Wilt teapot and cups

 

 

 

Fong Choo green teapot

Hydroplaning Robotic Beetle Teapot

Teapot – Barbara Chadwick

 

 

Batton Clayworks

 

Teapot by Cracked Clay

Handmade teapot from “stressed” slabs of stoneware clay and porcelain. It was fired in May 2009 in a wood fired anagama kiln in Minnesota!

Dariusz-Klimczak-(Poland)

Digital artwork

Dotty Teapot-Mark Dally

 

 

Fong Choo teapot

Teapot –    Leopold Foulem

 

 

Nancy Gardiner

Irina Zaytceva art teapot

James Diem

James Lawton

Kris Nelson wood  fired teapot

Dog Romance -Kurt Weiser

Teapot     Kurt Weiser-USA

( a lidless teapot )

Winter Sun   –  Nefta Tompkins

Ode to Night Circus  – Wanda designs

Rena Hamilton

 Passion Red Hearts – Functional Tea Pot by Patrica Paquin of Artists Loft

 

Louie Louie – Rimas Vis Girda

Rocket 4 teapot –  Tim Story

Rosie Wynkoop coffee pot

Chinese Jade teapot – 18th Century

( the Met NY )

Wood fired teapot – Cary Joseph

Sandy Terry

…

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