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Teapots as artistic expression or for functional use.

6/24/2024

All images taken by Koos Badenhorst

Teapot elements
Have you ever looked at a teapot and imagined its parts as symbols—perhaps even reflections of people
Let’s take a closer look at the elements of a teapot and how they function.
At its core is the body, the vessel that holds the contents—warm liquid cradled within. The spout creates a pathway, allowing that liquid to flow outward. The lid keeps everything contained, preserving warmth within the teapot’s belly. The handle provides direction and control, guiding the movement of the vessel so the contents can be poured, either gracefully through the spout or, if mishandled, through the opening. Beneath it all, the foot rim anchors the teapot. It insulates against temperature transfer, protects the surface it rests on, and stabilizes the form, ensuring balance.

Balance between body and spout
While a teapot’s body may take on countless forms, harmony between its parts is essential. The transition from body to spout, and the relationship between handle and foot, must be fluid and balanced—otherwise, the pour is compromised. A well-positioned handle allows the user to guide the teapot with ease. When angled correctly toward the spout, the liquid flows in a smooth, elegant stream. If the spout is poorly formed, however, the result is a frustrating sputter or spill. Likewise, a properly fitted lid should remain secure when the teapot is tilted. If it requires a second hand to hold it in place, it fails in both design and function—especially for someone with limited strength, who may already struggle to lift and pour.

Steamhole
Ventilation is another critical detail. A small hole—often in the lid—allows steam to escape. Without it, pressure builds, forcing liquid to spatter from the gallery where lid and body meet.

The foot rim completes the form, but it is far more than a finishing touch. Since the maker cannot predict the surface on which the teapot will rest, the foot must adapt—protecting against rapid heat loss on cold materials, preventing damage to delicate surfaces, and maintaining stability even on uneven ground.

Chicago museum of Art - Meissen teapot

Now, imagine yourself as a teapot.

Are you one that pours with ease and grace, or do you spatter under pressure?
Do you hold yourself together, or do you rely on others to keep your balance?
Is your handle strong and supportive, guiding your direction—or does it pull you off course?
And what of your foundation—do you stand steady and grounded, or are you easily unsettled?‭‭

In my work, Teapots in Conversation, these questions take form in clay—each piece suggesting personality, tension, and dialogue. Photographs from a teapot exhibition at NCECA capture this ongoing exploration.

When creating sculptural teapots, these same elements remain, but with greater freedom. The artist may exaggerate, distort, suggest, or even omit parts—so long as the piece still reads as a teapot. A handle may become symbolic, a spout implied, a lid merely suggested—sometimes transforming the piece into something closer to an ewer.

A handle situated correctly will make it easy to guide the body to direct the liquid to the spout. When the handle is tilted towards the spout, the liquid will flow easily, in an eloquent stream, or it will spatter and spit as it comes out, depending on how well the spout is formed. A well formed lid, will stay in place and not fall out if the teapot is tilted. If it must be held in place with the other hand it is not well formed. Consider an elderly, frail and weaker person pouring tea; they may need 2 hands just to hold the teapot. There must be a vent hole in the lid (some are in other places on the teapot), because steam builds up when filled with hot liquid and forces spattering at the gallery between the lid and body, if there is not a vent hole where the steam can escape.
Then there is a foot rim which is finishing the form of your teapot. For a functional teapot this is a big consideration, because as the maker you do not know what kind of surface the teapot will stand on. A cold surface will cool the liquid down too quickly, whereas a wooden table may burn from the hot liquid. If the surface where the teapot will be used, is not perfectly smooth ( consider knotted wood or pebble stone tables) the foot must be as such that it will still keep the teapot balanced and up right.

To spark your imagination , consider yourself as a teapot. What kind of teapot are you?
Are you the teapot that pours eloquently, or do you spatter and spit? Are you the one whose lid needs to be held in place by another hand, to prevent you from spattering from under your lid or do you stay in place and do not spatter when tilted?

Are you a teapot with a sturdy and strong handle that directs the body well, or one that pulls the body down?

What kind of a foot rim do you have is you are a teapot? One that stands firm and holds the body away from a hot or cold surface, or do you not have any foot rim at all.

Teapots in Conversation by Antoinette Badenhorst.

Images taken during a teapot show at NCECA

To create sculpted teapots, the same elements are considered, but any other elements can be added or left out, with the condition that the teapot sculpture must be recognizable as a teapot. The artist has the freedom to suggest a body, a handle a spout like in the teapot by Lou Pierozzi in which his teapot may possibly refer to a steam kettle. See my article about him in A Ceramics Art and Perception Magazine: "One man’s junk is another man’s treasure"
The term "suggest" can become a an open space for instance suggesting there is a lid, often referred to it as an ewer.
Richard Notkin created many teapots during his long clay career. Some of his most known teapots were in the shape of a heart. He used this theme over and over to convey messages. See my article written article Peace/War, Survival/Extinction An Artist’s Plea For Sanity

Jim Lawton teapot/ewer

Artists like Lou Pierozzi play with these ideas, reimagining the teapot form with references such as steam kettles, while Richard Notkin revisited the teapot repeatedly—most notably through heart-shaped forms—to communicate powerful messages about humanity, conflict, and survival.

As so often happens with me, I lost the information of some artists below. If you happen to know who created this teapot, please let me know. It is created from porcelain, breaking loose from a leather bag.

Teapot by Lou Pierozzi

Kurt Weiser Teapot

Porcelain teaset

Jeff Campana teaset

Help me identify the makers of these teapots.

In the end, whether functional or sculptural, the teapot remains a deeply expressive form—one that quietly mirrors the human condition.

Small collectors teapots by Antoinette

Below is a hand full of my own teapots that I made over the years. Most of them found homes.
The small collectors teapots are on average the size of a small orange. Although they all function as teapots, it is considered to be ornaments, due to the size, but also the way handles, lids, knobs and in many cases the foot rim were created.