Teapot 1735 - 1745

This porcelain teapot was created by the Meissen Manufactory, established in Germany in 1710. At the time it was made, tea was more than just a beverage. The global trade of tea—often controlled by European powers—resulted in the exploitation of land and labor. The teapot becomes a vessel brimming with the complexities of colonialism, class, and taste. The floral decorations, carefully hand-painted, reflect an orientalist aesthetic, an idealized vision of the East that was fashionable in Europe. But how might this image differ from the lived realities of the people and places it represents? Consider the labor that went into producing both the tea and the teapot itself, and the hands through which these objects passed. This teapot sits quietly, but it has much to tell us about power, privilege, and the intertwined histories of East and West.