- Museum number
- 1993.1A
1993.1B - Object
- Teapot, hard-paste porcelain, Newhall Porcelain Factory, about 1800
- Description
- Teapot, hard-paste porcelain, the body formed in a silver shape, with straight vertical sides in serpentine shape, strap handle, faceted spout anfd flat base, decorated in enamel colours with a central spray of flowers surrounded by four individual flowers, the same image repeated on both sides of the teapot body, above, a continuous wavy line in puce dots, the upper edge pof the main body defined with narrow red and puce lines with small harebell ornament. A thick puce line around the neck rim. The cover, which sits in a deep neck to the pot, is decorated with the same red, puce and harebell decoration and two small flowers, an elongated knop and the air hole running through the centre of the knop.
- Materials
- Porcelain
- Inscription
- In puce on base, "253" referring to the pattern number.
- On display?
- Yes
Further description
- Simple name
- Tea ware
Lid - Subject
- Floral
- Dimensions
- regular: 2400.0cm (d) x 15.5cm (w)
Teapot
Newhall Porcelain Factory
Hard-paste porcelain, about 1800
1993.1
Gift of Mrs RJ Ost, 1993
Tea is our National Drink. It’s drunk by everyone. In the eighteenth century it was an expensive luxury. To drink it was to make a statement about how rich and fashionable you were. It was responsibility of the mistress of the house to make and serve the tea. She held the key for the tea chest. Green tea was initially preferred but by the 1720s, cheaper black tea had become more popular. Boiling water was supplied from a tea kettle.
Early teapots were small because tea was so expensive. A pound of black tea cost the equivalent of a week’s wages for a skilled craftsman. As the cost of tea came down, so the size of teapots grew.
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