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
Both of these teapots are painted in the Imari style, a type of decoration characterised by a palette of iron red, underglaze blue, and gilding, which originated in the town of Arita in Japan and exported from the port of Imari. A popular style with Western buyers, it was imitated by European potters to cater to demand; out of these two examples in the Chitra Collection can you guess which is Japanese imari and which one is a Dutch imitation?
1. Is a Dutch teapot, tin-glazed earthenware with enamels and gilding, Netherlands, ca. 1700-1720 2. Is a Japanese porcelain teapot, ca. 1603-1863
I'm taking a guess that the left teapot is Dutch, and the right is Japanese (the pear-shaped).
