Tea for Tuesday - Watercolor Teapot

Here's the third and final teapot I bought last month at a flea market.  

There's no mark on the bottom, so I don't know much about it.  But it sure seems handmade to me, based on the concentric rings on the bottom and the inside.  I have a friend who's an outstanding potter, so I'm going to have her take a good look at it one of these days.

It has a nice soft, spring motif, done in a watercolor fashion.  It's a good addition to my teapot collection, since it's a different feel from what I usually go for.   At 9 inches tall, it's more like a coffee pot or pitcher, but I'm sticking with teapot.

Tea for Tuesday - Piano Teapot

Here's the second of the three teapots I bought at a resale store earlier this month.

 

Some vintage sheet music in the back.

Someone dashed in from the garden and sat right down to play.

They did a fairly good job making the handle look like a treble clef.

It's quite diminuitive at 6" tall and 8" wide.

Tea for Tuesday - Sewing Store Teapot

Over the weekend, a friend and I made a jaunt to a neighboring small town to check out their quilt store and flea market.  It's been awhile since I bought any teapots and I found three that were too fun to pass up.

This side features the display window and entrance door to an all-purpose sewing establishment named Needle Works.

And this side features a quilt for sale, only $500.

Tea for Tuesday - Elephant Teapot

Day three of elephant appreciation...

This teapot was the first elephant object I bought.  I found it at Pier One years ago, when not many places were selling teapots.  I used to buy every teapot I found, until they became popular and I could be more selective.

Orphan infant elephants are difficult to raise because they are completely dependent on their mother's milk for their first two years, and partially dependent for another two.  Daphne Sheldrick and her husband David, founding warden of Tsavo East National Park in Kenya, spent decades trying to find a formula that matched the mother's milk.  They finally had success, shortly before David's death, in 1977.

Their recipe was a mixture of human baby formula and coconut.  But this recipe works as well:
9.5 pints raw cow's milk
9.5 ounces cream
24 egg whites
4 pounds well-boiled rice water

Tea for Tuesday - Carrot Teapot

I cut way back on my teapot buying, but I did buy one earlier this year.  I like ceramics that look like things - food, houses, animals.

So when I saw this carrot teapot at a thrift store, I bought it.  It turned out to be educational, because I learned a few new things about carrots this year...

Up until around 100 years ago, most carrots were red or purple or yellow.  If I ever see any of them, I'm going to buy them.  I would imagine they're not as robust or prolific of a grower as the orange ones, and that's why you don't see them nowadays.

The other thing I learned is that the amount of red in a House Finch's plumage is determined by the quantity of carotenoids in its diet.

Tea for Tuesday

I've been trying to get rid of some of my teapots.  A person doesn't need so many.

I bought this one at a garage sale several years ago.  It has a bamboo handle and thus seemed to have a slightly Oriental feel.  I pulled it out of my storage bin and found a set of Japanese plates that looked nice with it. 

I bought the plates at an antique store about five years ago.  I didn't really like them a lot when I bought them, so don't ask me why I did.  I think it was because I was just starting to shop at antique stores and they were something I could afford.  Now I only buy things I really like, but I still don't spend very much money on an item.

Both sides of the pot have this "medallion".  It looks like metal, but I don't see how it could be.  It's curved, and if it was metal, it would melt in the firing process, wouldn't it?  It has a matte finish, unlike the shiny glaze on the cobalt blue part.

I think cobalt was a good choice for an Oriental pot, because it reminds me of the work kimonos which were cobalt blue.

 

I have three vintage kimono segments that I bought at the International Quilt Festival in Chicago years ago.  I never did anything with them.  I've never done anything with that book, either.  I don't like it when I buy things and don't use them for years, and then my interest shifts and I finally realize I'm never going to do anything with those things I just couldn't live without, like vintage kimonos.

That's a lesson to me to not buy more than I can use in a reasonable amount of time.

Tea for Tuesday - Not a Czech Teapot

January is "Hot Tea Month", so on this last Tuesday of the month, I wanted to bring you another episode of Tea for Tuesday before it's too late.

For all the years I've had this teapot, which isn't all that many, to tell the truth, I thought it was from Czechoslovakia.  It has the bright colors of some Czech pottery, and I've always displayed it with the Czech cup and saucer seen below.

This morning when doing research on it, I tipped it over and read "Made in Japan".  Hmm.  It makes no difference to me where it was made; I bought it for the bright colors that were hand painted.  I'm sure about the hand painting, because I read that on the bottom, too.

The cup and saucer were made by MZ Altrohlau which was in business from 1884 - 1945.  The mark on the bottom says "Czechoslovakia" which existed as a country between 1918 and 1992.  That would narrow the date of this cup and saucer between 1918 and 1945.

Here's a better view of the paint job, which is more watercolor-ish than the pot.  I personally prefer the teapot because of its crisp lines.  

Today's frigid weather makes it the perfect day to enjoy hot tea.  Happy Hot Tea Month to you!

Tea for Tuesday

This is a porcelain teapot from Linden Hills Pottery.  I have quite a few items from them.  This one is 12" tall.

They are made by a husband-and-wife team.  Bill does the clay forming and background spraying.  He studied under a potter in Japan for two and a half years.

Cynthia brushes on the detail.

The various ceramic stains are applied in layers.

In 2012 they won the Best in Ceramics award at the Madison Art Fair Off the Square.

National Watermelon Day

Today is National Watermelon Day.  I might have a watermelon-themed item or two around here.

I found the two teapots at the same thrift store, on the same day.  Somebody got tired of watermelon.  I found the bowls another time, at a different place; I think at a garage sale.

If I was in charge of watermelon, I would make the rinds in different colors, like this.

You would think that this would be enough watermelon stuff, but no.  Since I haven't made a purse in a couple of years, a few days ago I decided to make a watermelon purse.  That turned into two watermelon purses.  Come back on Thursday (Purse Day) and they'll be done.

Tea for Tuesday - Houses

I love looking at houses, both inside and out.  I'm pretty happy with our house, but sometimes think there could be something out there that would be even better.

This looks like a nice block.  I like that Victorian on the right.

This one on the left looks good, too.

They all look fine from the back.

This one seems determined to draw my attention.

Up close, it's even more charming - an ivy-covered cottage with mullioned windows, lush window boxes, a dormer for a cozy reading spot, and a streetlight to light the way home.

And the front - well, this seals the deal.  I'm sold.  Guess I better change the "books for sale" sign to "under new ownership."

Tea for Tuesday

Gosh, it's been almost three months since I showed you a teapot.  It's not like I'm running out of them or anything!!  In honor of my zig-zag mood, I present to you ...

This teapot is 12 inches tall.  I bought it at an art fair a couple of years ago.  Sorry I can't tell you the name of the artist.  I usually get cards from the artists I buy from, then I either lose them or save them for awhile before tossing them.  I should have dropped her card inside the pot for safekeeping.

Here's a good view of the zig zags.

 

The back.

I didn't go to any art fairs last year.  How did that happen?!?!?  I love art fairs!!!  That means I need to go to extra ones this year, to make up for my lapse.