Feature Articles


May Issue 2001

Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, SC, Offers Exhibition of Teapots

There won't be a teabag in sight, when 100 teapots from the 18th and early 19th centuries arrive at the Columbia Museum of Art in Columbia, SC, from the Twining Teapot Gallery at the Norwich Castle Museum, Norwich (pronounced Norich), England. Traditions in Elegance: Two Centuries of British Teapots From The Norwich Castle Museum, will be on view through June 17, 2001.

The exhibition explores the stylistic evolution of teapots and the English customs of tea preparation and tea drinking. During this period, the teapot was the focal point of an elegant tea table and represented the taste of the hostess, thus reflecting the stylistic changes that swept England's and America's decorative arts. The exhibition presents the finest objects from a social convention that required fashionable accoutrements, formalized protocol, prescribed etiquette and symbolic rituals.

The evolution of teapot shapes is shown in examples that range from classically inspired silhouettes to rococo motifs -- including forms that resemble fruits and vegetables. The collection chronicles the technical developments of ingenious potters who experimented with ornamental processes such as glazes that resemble metal and with the formulation of different types of clay to produce agate, jasper and tortoiseshell-like decoration. Spode, Wedgwood, Staffordshire and Worcester teapots are represented. The "world's largest teapot," made around 1851 for London's Great Exposition and decorated with enamel ornament, has a 13-gallon capacity and is a highlight of the exhibition.

This exhibition was organized by Norfolk Museums Service, R. Twining and Company Ltd. and The Morris Museum, Morristown, NJ. It is made possible through the generous support of Twinings.

For more info check our SC Institutional Gallery listings or call 803/799-2810 or at (http://www.columbiamuseum.org).

[ | May'01 | Feature Articles | Home | ]

Mailing Address: Carolina Arts, P.O. Drawer 427, Bonneau, SC 29431
Telephone, Answering Machine and FAX: 843/825-3408
E-Mail: carolinart@aol.com
Subscriptions are available for $18 a year.

Carolina Arts is published monthly by Shoestring Publishing Company, a subsidiary of PSMG, Inc.
Copyright© 2001 by PSMG, Inc., which published Charleston Arts from July 1987 - Dec. 1994 and South Carolina Arts from Jan. 1995 - Dec. 1996. It also publishes Carolina Arts Online, Copyright© 2001 by PSMG, Inc. All rights reserved by PSMG, Inc. or by the authors of articles. Reproduction or use without written permission is strictly prohibited. Carolina Arts is available throughout North & South Carolina.