DIA120xH150mm, China
This is our family teapot, though it might look very modern or even muji like, the form has been around since the late Qing dynasty.
My first association of a teapot was from a drawing, then the nursery rhyme. When I was old enough to go to restaurants that I met the first teapot in a tea house (the place where they serve Chinese tea and dim sum). It was a comical looking object, perfectly fitting to the first two descriptions I had learn, rounded short and stout. It was not until later when I was trusted to pour tea for myself that I realized it is impossible to maneuver this typical Chinese teapot. The design is appalling, the pot is short and long, the momentum pivoted from the handle made it heavy to hold, then the handle to small making your fingers scorch by the side of the pot. It is made worse by the dripping spout and the lid that keep falling off. If the Chinese love to drink tea then why would this become the standard teapot for tea houses and restaurants? Looking at the history of Chinese teapot where the form was influenced mainly by the development of tea brewing method, design of teapots were sophisticated and refine, it would seems that there is no place for an object like this to survive. My only guess is that it has been modeled after one of the miniature zi sha teapot, the special teapot where the fragrance of the tea is celebrated. Tea leave packed, brew for seconds with small amount of hot water which is completely drained out for consumption. The whole design evolve around the power of the smallness, scaling it up loses all its meaning whatsoever.
Mountain Folkcraft 