Eccentric Tea Set

For this assignment, we were asked to create a tea set, one teapot with multiple cups, that had a theme. Since I have made a clay teapot before, I wanted to challenge myself and make something out of the ordinary, and not necessarily functioning. I decided to make a teapot that was a laying camel, the tail being the handle, the mouth being the spout, and the hump with saddle being the lid. I thought this idea would work out well because the mouth would look like a camel spitting, and camel's long neck would make it able to work, since the line of water would be below the spout.

To start my teapot, I made a large pinch pot to make the torso of the camel laying down. After smoothing it out and creating a dip for the neck to attach to, I attached a smaller pinch pot on the hump to represent a very exaggerated hump. I wanted the hump to be the focal point of my teapot. From there, I made a coil to make the camel's neck. I allowed it to dry until it was longer tacky on the outside, then I cut it down the middle and hallowed the coil out, then attaching them together again so that the spout would function. I scratched and attached the neck onto the pinch pot torso.

To add extra detail, I made a blanket and attached it to the top of the camel, laying over the hump. Additionally, I made a clay pillow and carved a hole out of the top of the camel so that the pillow would work as a teapot lid by adding a cone shape to the bottom to hold the lid down when not in use. I also made a coil with a feathered look at the bottom to make the teapot handle represent the camel's tail, but also work as a functional handle.

I made the camel head using a block of clay and shaped it using wooden tools and the metal poking tool. I made two teacups using the paddle method and added a little pattern to the bottom of them.

I finished my set after the bisque fire by glazing the camel and tea cups. I used a mixture of yellow and brownish glazes to make a camel-color/golden shade for the body of the camel. I used indigo for the blanket and pale pink for the pillow. For the teacups, I glazed them with three layers of rutile. Overall, I am very happy with my tea set, especially the tea pot. I think I thought outside of the box and challenged my artistic skills. If I could go back and change anything, I would maybe add fur details to the camel body to add a realistic look to the tea pot and more depth.