High Tea Pot
Teapot and Cosy
2003 (designed), 2008 (made)
2003 (designed), 2008 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This teapot, the focus of the polite activity of drinking tea, is modelled on a pig's skull. Wieki Somers designed it for a project called Deliciously Decadent. She defines decadence as 'where the tasty and the unsavoury, the harmful and the delightful are no longer discernible from one another'.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 3 parts.
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| Title | High Tea Pot (assigned by artist) |
| Materials and techniques | Porcelain, water-rat fur, stainless steel, leather. The water-rat fur is from a semi-aquatic rodent species called Nutria or Myocastor coypus, from Poland. This is not an endangered species and is not listed in the CITES Appendices. |
| Brief description | Teapot and cosy, 'High Tea Pot', porcelain and fur, designed by Wieki Somers, Netherlands, 2003 |
| Physical description | Porcelain teapot, modelled on a pig's skull. Slip-cast. The teapot has a small porcelain lid, fitted with a short stainless steel chain. The tea cosy is made from water rat fur, with leather ties. |
| Dimensions |
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| Gallery label |
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| Credit line | Acquired through the generosity of Gerard and Sarah Griffin |
| Object history | The first prototypes for the High Tea Pot, made from 2003, were in bone china, but this subsequently proved difficult to reproduce. Five such bone china prototypes were made. The subsequent unlimited batch production was in porcelain, this having a bluer colour than the original bone china. In 2008, she began experimenting with a whiter porcelain, closer to the character of bone china. This teapot is the first to be made in this whiter porcelain body. Around 120 examples were produced using the earlier porcelain body between 2003 and 2008. |
| Subjects depicted | |
| Summary | This teapot, the focus of the polite activity of drinking tea, is modelled on a pig's skull. Wieki Somers designed it for a project called Deliciously Decadent. She defines decadence as 'where the tasty and the unsavoury, the harmful and the delightful are no longer discernible from one another'. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | C.351:1 to 3-2009 |
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| Record created | October 18, 2010 |
| Record URL |
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