Teapot Trivia

The exhibit catalogue, “The Artful Teapot,” by curator Garth Clark, contains beautiful photographs of all the works in the show, biographies of all the artists and a wealth of interesting tea lore. Here are a few tidbits:

Teapots and taxes: Until the 1500s, the Chinese compressed powdered tea into bricks, which could be used as currency and given to the emperor as a form of tax. When the time came to drink the tea, the powder was whisked into a cup or bowl of hot water. When the tea tax was abolished, about 1500, loose tea leaves came into vogue, and the teapot became a necessary item.

I’m a Little Teapot: The beloved nursery song was written in 1939 by George Sanders and Clarence Kelley. Kelley ran a dance school for children and needed a piece that the youngest children could perform at a recital; Sanders was his pianist. They came up with the teapot song, which was easy to perform and a natural for small children. The “Teapot Tip,” as it was called, quickly became popular in dance schools and spread from there to the rest of the population.

The Cube: In the days of ocean travel, a peculiar cube-shaped teapot was the signature teapot of the Cunard Steamship Line. The teapot, which was patented in 1916 by Robert Johnson, was designed in a remarkably compact shape to minimize chipping of the handle and spout, qualities that were particularly useful on shipboard. Johnson licensed the shape to a number of manufacturers, and the cube teapots were made in both ceramic and metal.

The Mad Potter of Biloxi: That was the nickname given to George E. Ohr (1857-1918), one of the first potters to play with the form of the teapot itself. Ohr’s work included teapots with very thin walls, teapots with multiple handles and spouts and a combination teapot and coffeepot that could brew both drinks simultaneously.

Life Imitates Art, Sort Of: One of the Kamms’ teapots is a fanciful piece called “Quake-Proof Model,” by Eric Eimeren. Shaped like a sturdy anvil with several protrusions, the teapot is mounted on a spring. In 1994, the piece was put to the test when an earthquake hit Southern California, where the collection was housed. The teapot survived, but it swung back and forth so much that it destroyed several other teapots nearby.

(this article was taken from townonline.com)