Tea extract pot c. 1928

This is Emmy Roth’s Tea Extract Pot, which looks like it was made with some kind of metal, sometime around the first half of the 20th century, and what strikes me is how Roth is taking a material associated with industry and using it to make a humble little pot. I mean, look at the surface, that matte sheen, and how it seems almost dented and hammered; it makes me think that Roth enjoyed the process of making as much as the object itself, which is something I can relate to. There's a real tension between the way the material looks, so cold and functional, and the purpose of the object, a thing of comfort and warmth. Take the wooden handle, for example, it’s a small touch that gives the whole piece a sense of home and tactility. You can almost feel the way the wood would warm up in your hands as you pour a cup of tea. It reminds me of some of the vessels made by Lucie Rie, a potter who also embraced the tension between function and abstraction in her work.