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teapot
Europe, United Kingdom, England, Staffordshire
1750-1770
1923.559
Second floor: Gallery of Craft and Design
ceramics
9.2 x 9.8 cm
Stoneware teapot imitating limestone
Made in Staffordshire 1760s
Salt glazed stoneware, painted in enamel
This teapot is painted to imitate a geological find,
looking like a cross-section of encrinile limestone.
In the 1700s, newly found fossils and unusual stories
were eagerly acquired by collectors and amateurs
so that they could display them as specimen types.
Pottery firms responded to this new craze
and commissioned similar patterns for their wares.
Because the shape of teapots changed so little,
variety could be provided by different patterning.
This pot also has a crabstock or crooked spout
as it looks like a twig from a crab-apple tree.
The whole design appears surprisingly modern,
reminiscent of a rather outsized liquorice allsort.
Thomas Greg bequest 1923.559
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