Madagascar Chameleons Upright Ring Teapot

I started this teapot series by making upright ring teapots with hand-sculpted animal figures attached. Later I began cutting apart the rings and reassembling them. At the same time as I was experimenting with upright ring teapots, I was making closed-form boxes with endangered-species adult mother animal figures on the lid, and baby animal figures inside the box. Madagascar chameleons were one of the most unusual and fascinating endangered animals I explored, both in closed-form boxes and upright ring teapots. This teapot has an adult Parson's chameleon inside the ring, and an adult Oustalet's chameleon perched on the lid. It took longer to make the chameleon figures than to make the teapot!

This teapot is held in a private collection in Aspen, Colorado.