Teapot and stand

Object Type
Ceramic teapots of the early 19th century tended to follow the design of Sheffield plate or silver. They even imitated the rivets where the wooden handle would have joined the body. This example, with its sweeping prow and boat-like body, is entirely typical of its era. It was made shortly after Nelson's victory at Trafalgar and may reflect the great interest in all things nautical at that time.

People
The Baddeleys were dynastic Staffordshire potters: they inter-married and became an integral part of the close-knit manufacturing community that banded together to advance their cause. They worked together to improve the canal and road transport system, to fill each others' large orders, and to make price-fixing agreements. An earlier pioneer, John Baddeley, made porcelain at Shelton in the 1750s, long before manufacture became firmly established in Staffordshire.

Materials & Making
After the death of Josiah Wedgwood in 1795, some of the leading Staffordshire potteries continued to make his highly refined 'Queen's Ware'. However, at exactly this moment, firms such as Spode and Minton perfected and successfully marketed the new bone china. This inevitably forced the more fragile earthenware, with only the advantage of cheaper materials and lower cost, to imitate and compete directly with porcelain.

This teapot is elegant, thinly made, almost white, and superbly decorated with a trompe l'oeil bamboo border and gilding. It represents the ultimate development of Wedgwood's old creamware body.