teapot & lid

Summary

Public: Teapot and lid, hard paste porcelain, chinoiserie scenes in enamel colours, lustre and gilt with moulded detail on teapot and gilt metal cover with floral decoration. Private: Hard paste porcelain, pear-shaped with elaborately scrolled handle, moulded spout. Painted in iron red, purple, green, brown and yellow enamel colours with two chinoiserie scenes within cartouches of mother-of-pearl (Pearlmutter) lustre and gilt, surrounded by scrollwork in iron red. Handle and spout decorated with stylized flowers (indianische Blumen), the details picked out in gilt. Scalloped gilt band above footring.Replacement cover of gilt metal with bulbous knop and stamped floral decoration.

Display Label

Social Ritual Afternoon tea, or dinner with friends and family, going out for a coffee, or having a drink in the pub are just a few of the social rituals enjoyed by many. Some rituals have survived through the centuries, or been adapted to suit our ever-changing society, whilst others have been lost in the mists of time. Different cultures have their own social rituals. Although sometimes seen as strange and exotic, they often inspire other countries to adopt them. Food, drink and the rituals associated with them, once new, expensive or for the elite, are now taken for granted and part of everyday life. The objects on display reflect some of those rituals; where they came from and how they have changed, those that have survived and those that were lost. They each tell a story about a time and a place, the people from the past and society today.