Archive for the ‘teapot’ Category

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Salt glazed drabware teapot, c.1800

Thursday, June 17th, 2010

English stoneware pottery teapot with neoclassic molded relief panel design. This form was copied from a c.1790 Spode caneware teapot, which they had copied from Neal & Co. a few years earlier. It was not unusual for manufacturers to “borrow” designs from each other and they would usually vary the spout or handle design just a bit to make the designs more unique.

Teapot measures 5″ tall and has an identical urn with swags motif on both sides.

An existing metal lid from another object was trimmed to fit this teapot, after the original stoneware lid broke.

The underside of the flimsy metal replacement lid.

The photo below shows what the original lid would have looked like, before it was replaced by the metal lid. The teapot on the top was made by Neale & Co. and dates from 1778-92. Spode made the bottom teapot, dating from 1790.

From the book “British Teapots & Tea Drinking” by Robin Emmerson, published in London by HMSO in 1992.

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Clobbered Imari teapot, c.1730

Tuesday, June 8th, 2010

Chinese porcelain globular form teapot with cobalt blue underglaze Nanking design, “clobbered” in the mid-1700’s with red & gilt overglaze in Imari style decoration

Surprisingly, the extended lid finial has survived the past 300 years intact. Teapot measures 5″ high

Original porcelain spout was replaced in the mid-18th to early 19th century with a well formed metal spout and round backplate

This beautiful clobbered Imari teapot shows what the original spout on my teapot might have looked like

Photo courtesy of M. Ford Creech Antiques

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Black “one cup” teapot, c.1830

Friday, June 4th, 2010

Also known as a “Bachelor’s teapot” this small English stoneware teapot with a low round shape from the early part of the 19th century has an “Egyptian black” or “shining black” glazed finish and stands 3-1/4″ tall. Some collectors and dealers believe tiny teapots such as this to be miniatures or part of a child’s tea set.

Spaniel lid finial is similar to the one on my post dated 3/12/10, English black teapot, c.1810.

Ornate low relief scrollwork design surrounds the teapot and carries over to the handle design.

The end of the broken spout is repaired with a simple tin collar, one of the most common and simplest of metal repairs.

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Miniature “clobbered” teapot, c.1700

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

A tiny Chinese porcelain teapot made during the Kangxi period (1662-1722) combining three of my favorite things: inventive repair, miniatures and clobbering. It’s hard to tell what the original 1700’s underglaze decoration was, as the multi color & gilt overglaze decoration of dragons & flowers extends over the entire surface.

Clobbered in the early 1800s to satisfy the demand for more colorful pottery of the times, this small teapot stands 4-3/4″ tall.

There is a hole connecting the spout to the body, as well as a tiny hole in the lid for steam to escape, confirming this to be a functioning miniature.

This piece has travelled much over the past 220 years, as it was originally made in China, exported to Europe, clobbered most likely in Holland, landed in Scotland with a collector and ended up with me in America!

The replaced metal handle has been painted to match the body. See an earlier post, “Globular Chinese export teapot, c.1750”, with a similarly painted handle.

Typical pseudo Oriental marks were painted on bottom at the time of the clobbering to add “authenticity”.

This miniature clobbered teapot of similar form shows what the original handle on my teapot might have looked like.

27016

 

Photo courtesy of Grays

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Wedgwood drabware teapot, c.1830

Tuesday, May 18th, 2010

Egyptian-shaped jasperware teapot with “drab” colored body and white relief overlay decoration of grapes and vines, made in England by Wedgwood in the first quarter of the 19th century. Josiah Wedgwood founded the British pottery firm in 1795 and it has grown to become one of the most famous names associated with pottery.

Teapot measures 4-3/4″ high and is 10″ wide.

The replaced lid and spout tip with engraved grape leaf & vine decoration are so elaborate and well executed that I initially thought they were original to the teapot. The silver plated knob is in the spirit of the original.

Stamped “WEDGWOOD” with incised mark on the underside.

This child’s tea set includes a teapot with a miniature version of my larger teapot, showing its original lid and spout.

Photo courtesy of WorthPoint

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Chinese clobbered teapot, c.1780

Monday, April 26th, 2010

I am a big fan of clobbered (over-decorated) porcelains and this piece does not disappoint. A Chinese export porcelain teapot, measuring 5-1/4″ high, originally with blue underglaze Nanking decoration fell out of fashion shortly after it was made. In order to keep up with the sudden demand for polychrome Chinese ceramics, factories took the unwanted pieces with blue decoration and overpainted with brightly colored enamels, often without regard for the original design

And if that wasn’t enough, when the handle broke off it was repaired using metal staples and wrapped with lead. The result is less than attractive but the sturdy repair makes the teapot once again serviceable

This teapot escaped the hand of a painter with polychrome enamels and retains its original blue decoration

Photo courtesy of Equinox Antiques

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Blue & white Chinese teapot, c.1790

Monday, April 19th, 2010

This Chinese export porcelain teapot with globular (aka bullet) form has a blue underglaze decoration and a simple looped handle.

Teapot measures 4-1/2″ high.

Nicely painted decoration of a man on horseback is featured on both sides of the teapot.

Not only has the spout been replaced with silver sometime in the early to mid 1800’s…

…but the lid now sports a nicely turned wood replacement knob.

The wood replacement knob is held in place with this early, hand forged bolt & nut.

This example shows what the original spout and knob may have looked like.

Photo courtesy of Collectibles Articles

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Globular teapot with double repairs, c.1750

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Someone must have really loved this much abused Chinese export porcelain teapot with globular form and famille rose decoration. Not only does it have a severely chipped lid but it lost its original spout and handle sometime during its long life.

Teapot measures 5″ high.

The same red and green enamel decoration is on both sides.

A loose, cartoon-like decoration is revealed upon closer inspection.

When the porcelain handle broke off it was replaced with a wooden handle, possibly from a pewter teapot. It was repaired again later with reinforcement wire

A silver plated spout replaces the original one, sometime in the late 18th to mid 19th century.

Surprisingly, the original lid with skep-shaped knob has survived, though it bears the battle scars of large chips along the outer edge.

This teapot is in excellent condition and has both its handle and spout intact.

Photo courtesy of AntikWest

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Stoneware “one cup” teapot, c.1830

Monday, April 12th, 2010

English salt-glazed stoneware teapot decorated with brown iron-rich slip, attributed to S & H Briddon in Brampton, Derbyshire in the early 1800s. The lid has a pierced mushroom-shaped finial.

This small fluted form “bachelor’s teapot” measures 3-1/2″ tall and is 7″ wide from the end of the handle to the tip of the spout.

The metal replacement handle is secured to the body using two horizontal and three vertical metal straps.

Here is the exact same teapot showing its original handle, as found in Robin Emmerson’s book “British Teapots & Tea Drinking” (Crown, 1992)

This Chinese Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Yixing teapot seems to be the inspiration for the English piece.

Photo courtesy of AntiqueTica

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Kangxi teapot, c.1690

Friday, April 9th, 2010

This unusual fluted beehive form (aka bell form) porcelain teapot from China was made during the Kangxi reign (1662-1723). It is decorated with a flowering plant design in blue under glaze, has an upright fixed handle and is raised on three small feet.

The stylized floral decoration in vivid cobalt blue is on each of the six panels.

Teapot measures 6-1/2″ high and has eluded me ever since I purchased it 15 years ago at the New York Coliseum Antiques Show, as I could not find any research on it.

At the time, it was one of the most expensive “make-dos” I had purchased, and it was my first piece adorned with a silver repair.

The replaced silver spout is of modest design, but was made by a silversmith sometime in the 1700s-1800s, and at considerable cost to the owner.

I was thrilled to have recently found this photo showing a complete, nearly identical teapot, shown here with its original lid and spout. This one sold at Christie’s in 2008 for more than four times the estimated price.

Photo courtesy of Christie’s

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