Orange 5-Pointed Star Cross-Section Reassembled Ring Teapot

I keep my eyes and ears open all the time to gather images and ideas for possible use in my artwork. One contemporary ceramic art master whose work I greatly admire is Taiwanese ceramicist Ah Leon. I had originally planned this teapot to be a tall narrow piece with the cut-apart arc sections layered and stacked up on each other. One day while working on this project, I unwrapped it and was reminded of an unusual teapot by Ah Leon made in the Yixing tradition in the shape of a long horizontal tree branch, which is in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. Oddly enough, the spout of his teapot points downward, so it looks like if you poured water into the teapot through the knothole lid opening it would just spill right out on the table! I like the bold idea of that denial of function, and oriented my teapot horizontally, but turned my spout upward to keep the tea in the pot until the user decides to pour it out. I traced a few of the 5-pointed star flat panel ends onto clay slabs to compose the lid finial as an echo of the ring cross-section, and glazed the teapot orange.

This teapot is held in a private collection in San Antonio, Texas.

In addition to my unique reassembled ring teapots, my partner Susan Nykiel and I also make a wide range of functional and elegant pottery pieces. Please visit our new online store at oakbluffspottery.etsy.com to see what we have to offer! This is an excellent place to shop for beautiful handmade pottery for your own home or for your gift-giving pleasure.