Tea Pots!

I got an order for a large tea pot recently so i decided to tackle this Goliath head on. Tea pots are probably the greatest challenge any potter can face. Shape, proportion, fit, line, and all of the creative design issues all play a part. And having the design established for several decades does nothing to make the job easier. Last year, I made several of these pots and was satisfied with none of them. There were those that were passable, but nothing that really looked exactly the way it should.

So when I got the order, I was a little nervous. I wanted this to be right and look the best it could. There was nothing for it but to aim for a high goal, so I decided to make 20,

Now 20 tea pots is really 60 pots. You need 20 pots, 20 spouts and 20 lids. That doesn't even count the handle and the leaf on the lid. Those come later.

Once the pots, spouts and lids are thrown and trimmed, they need to be (gulp) assembled. That looks just a little like this:

Not the best photography in the world, I know, but you get the idea. It's a lot of eyeballing, eye crossing, cutting, shaving, whittling, cursing, fitting, sticking, and smoothing.

Did I say 'cursing'? Ok, I admit. It;s just as well that customers weren't flooding through the doors on the two days that I was engaged in this enterprise. I wasn't at my friendliest. But I got through it. And I have no doubt the next time will be just a bit easier. No less time and effort, but easier.

A bit.