A teapot charm offensive

August 13, 2015

Those loyal vehicles of the captivating tea beveridge are under scrutiny again for their tendency to be audacious, bold and innovative products of the unbridled imagination. Their bemusing evolution has led to forms flowing from the incongruitive to the sublimely harmonious, which showcase unconventional shapes, imagery and clever abstractions of the clay while fulfilling a need to command attention at the table. Teapots have morphed from being functional objects for the creation of a cuppa to charming utilitarian pieces of amusement and even serious sculptural statements As they are the centre of attention several times a day and much loved for their role in tea making, its only logical they also get utilized for artistic expression. The tea leaves must be wondering what all this grandiose presentation is about. I say all power to the humble teapot.

Teapots of charming and zany sublimity

Loren Lukens ceramic teapot

Michael Hosaluk– tri legged, zigzag handle teapot

Flexine, Contortionist Sideshow Girlesque Series teapot – Karen Porteleo

Photo Andy Titcomb-flickr

Yoshiro Ikeda teapot

Natasha Dikareva teapot – ‘Between East and West’

Queen of hearts Teapot

funteapartyideas.com

Michael Hosaluk teaware

Pumpkin style teapot – John Bauman

Facebook

‘Brown Trout Teapot’ – Mark Chuck

Blackberry Teapot – Kate Malone

Teashop, Boston

Porcelain Teapot – Adrian Saxe, California

In this piece Adrian combined classic Chinese ceramics with a humorous twist

Brooklyn Museum

Dancing retro teapots in pastels

Lifeinmommatone – etsy

‘Bakst Foun’ – Earthenware teapot – Noi Volkov

Press molded earthenware, hand sculpted, hand painted, glazes, oxides, and under glazes

Louis Reilly Tea Pot

Crimson Laurel Gallery

Marylin Andrews

‘In Love with Time’ – Laura Balombini

Bear Shaped Teapot – English Prattware Pottery

circa 1790-1800

sold on 1stDibs – John Howard

Cybill Ceramics

Goro Suzuki

Yoshiro Ikeda

Coreen Abbott

Jim Budde

‘The Reluctant Dragon’ – Justin Gerard

‘Hope Warmed Over’ – Laura Balombini, NY

‘Onion’ teapot – John Pripp, Denmark

Chris Theiss ‘On The Bridge’ multi perspective sgraffito teapot

Russian artist Irina Zaytceva

Created using highfire porcelain, with overglaze as well as underglaze painting

Jacques Blin, France

Helene Fielder

Jose Sierra

Rooster Teapot – Layl McDill – Polymer Clay

Josie Jurczenia

Julia Kirillova tapot

Judith Heartsong on Flickr

Porcelain Spiral Teapot – Kaete Brittin Shaw

Barry Gregg Clayworks

Larry Spears

Laurie Shaman

Nancy Adams owl teapot

Natalya Sots

Jeroen Bechtold, Denmark

Roberta Polfus

Seated Elephant teapot – Scott and Naomi Schoenherr

Laguna Beach, California

Sally Jaffee

Sandy Terry raku teapot

‘Stone Prancer Teapot’ by Susan Farrar Parrish

Photo by Seth Tice Lewis

“You Give Me Butterflies: Appetite” – Susan Thayer

2012

‘Venus Revisted’ – Sandra Zeiset Richardson

‘Teapot–Red and Black’ by Thai artist Porntip Sangvanich now residing in California

Glazed porcelain

‘The Narghile Smoker’ tea drinking automaton by Lambert

circa 1915

Art-Deco-tea-pot cream and gold porelain

Art Deco automobile tea pot

Harris Deller teapot - geometric black lines on white

Harris Deller from Brooklyn likes to make vessels that are provocative contradictions. The porcelain clay is sturdy, the abstracted forms are whimsical and the third dimension is suppressed in varying degrees.

Cynthia Aldrich China tea tifjpg