Monkey teapot
Porcelain and enamels, J.J. Kändler (modeller), Meissen, Germany, ca.1735
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Monkey teapot
Porcelain and enamels, J.J. Kändler (modeller), Meissen, Germany, ca.1735
The Chitra Collection is an extraordinary private museum of historic teawares. In 2011 Nirmal Sethia, the Chairman of the luxury tea company, Newby Teas, set himself the task of acquiring the world’s greatest collection of teawares to record and preserve tea cultures of the past. Today, the collection, named in honour of his late wife, Chitra, totals almost 2000 objects and is already the world’s finest and most comprehensive collection of its kind.
Porcelain and enamels, J.J. Kändler (modeller), Meissen, Germany, ca.1735
Porcelain and enamels, J.J. Kändler (modeller), Meissen, Germany, ca.1735
Silver-gilt and cloisonné enamel, Pavel Ovchinnikov, Russia, 1896-1908
Silver-gilt and cloisonné enamel, Pavel Ovchinnikov, Russia, 1896-1908
Bloodstone and gold openwork, Germany, ca.1750
Bloodstone and gold openwork, Germany, ca.1750
Silver and ivory, Paul Storr, England, 1814
Silver and ivory, Paul Storr, England, 1814
January is a time for making plans for the year ahead, making (and breaking!) resolutions, or wondering what 2022 has in store! Our fortune teller teapot designed by William Greatbatch in 1775 is whimsically illustrated with well-to-do women receiving their fortunes, one holds the fortune 'husband' while the second is told that she will 'never marry'! The other side shows a fortune teller's chart depicting the twelve houses of heaven in astrology, flanked by the different models of the solar system by Ptolemy and Copernicus. The design might remind those serving tea of the practice of reading tea leaves, putting them in the position of fortune teller, a popular past time in the 18th century!
