Not Clay, but Nice Form

This wonderful hammered silver teapot with the coral lid knob was sitting in a case in the permanent collection section of the Renwick.

It's almost more a piece of jewelry than a utilitarian vessel.

Maybe jewelry for your table?

The body is produced by skillfully hammering a flat, round disc into a three dimensional piece. And, the statement here is that it is all hand-made, which is an admirable work of skill. The only thing I find stops the eye is the slight irregularity of the hand wrought handle.

Everything works here. The rough textured body, the graceful arch of the handle which lands on two toes above the spout, the tripod legs.

The whole thing just seems to have flown in and lightly landed on the table.

And look how the spout joins and blends so well with the shape of the body. This is a spout that means business......

"Theme and Variation", a mantra my modern art professor used to say. The variation is the audacity of the coral, I think.

This photo goes into my "Teapots" file for future reference. It would look nice interpreted in clay. A bit of a challenge, but worth trying.