Stand
1896 (designed)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This stand complements a teapot on display in the V&A British Galleries (C.277-1983). The teapot made by Burgess & Leigh in 1896 borders on the whimsical and would certainly have provided a topic for conversation at teatime. This highly elaborate polychrome teapot stand like the teapot shows an Indian scene with an elephant and hunting dogs, favoured imagery at the height of the Empire period. Burgess & Leigh registered the shape 'No. 281720' and design 'No. 285771' (for teapot and stand) in 1896, but the pot shape copies precisely the form and surface decoration of a multi-colour printed biscuit tin registered by Huntley & Palmer (M.257-1983). This is a most intriguing story of design plagiarism, the ensuing law suit resulted with legislation protecting the original maker and Burgess & Leigh agreed to then produce monochrome versions only. This teapot stand is rare as it has the first type of decoration, before the law suit, and often these accessories do not survive as they fell out of use in the 20th century.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Materials and techniques | Earthenware, lead-glazed, transfer-printed, painted and gilded |
| Brief description | Earthenware teapot stand, Burgess & Leigh, Burslem, designed 1896 |
| Physical description | Earthenware teapot stand, rectangular with a raised central section. Transfer-printed and painted on the front in polychrome with an Indian scene depicting a procession of elephants, horses, riders, dogs and people on foot, set among a landscape of temples. This scene is surrounded by a transfer printed floral border in brown and gilded edges. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Mass produced |
| Marks and inscriptions |
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| Summary | This stand complements a teapot on display in the V&A British Galleries (C.277-1983). The teapot made by Burgess & Leigh in 1896 borders on the whimsical and would certainly have provided a topic for conversation at teatime. This highly elaborate polychrome teapot stand like the teapot shows an Indian scene with an elephant and hunting dogs, favoured imagery at the height of the Empire period. Burgess & Leigh registered the shape 'No. 281720' and design 'No. 285771' (for teapot and stand) in 1896, but the pot shape copies precisely the form and surface decoration of a multi-colour printed biscuit tin registered by Huntley & Palmer (M.257-1983). This is a most intriguing story of design plagiarism, the ensuing law suit resulted with legislation protecting the original maker and Burgess & Leigh agreed to then produce monochrome versions only. This teapot stand is rare as it has the first type of decoration, before the law suit, and often these accessories do not survive as they fell out of use in the 20th century. |
| Associated objects |
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| Other number | 281720 and 285771 - patent number |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.15-2014 |
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| Record created | December 18, 2013 |
| Record URL |
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