Teapots

These two are my favorites.  We bought both in Virginia, one at a craft fair in  Gaithersburg in 1995, the other in a gift shop in the summer of 2007…they are hand crafted by Carol E. Myers of Chincoteague Island, Va.  She makes a number of other animal teapots as well, which you can see on her web page at www.jolaf.com/meyers/index.html.

Here’s a third from Carol Meyers, that I got via eBay (much cheaper than in the store or at the fair!). I believe it is an early version since it lack some of the ‘frills’ of the others and seems to have a somewhat cruder head.

This folk-art caricature is also hand-made, but from where and by whom I have no idea.  It came via eBay, and bears the mark “DN86” on the left front leg. 

Here’s the infamous bull in the china shop, dating from 1994, and a 2006 teapot with milk and cheese on its lid from the same maker.  Andy Titcomb makes limited-run teapots, and salt and pepper shakers, at his studio in North Cornwall. Check his web site at www.andytitcomb.com.

This is a 'rare' brown version of Andy Titcomb's 1994 bull in a china shop, showing both sides of this massive and beautiful teapot.

Here’s another shot of the ’06 Titcomb teapot, standing next to one signed for “John Gooth, ‘87”.  I have been unable to trace him on the web, but when this teapot (rarely) comes up on eBay it’s usually with quite a high reserve (mine didn’t, thankfully…one of my few ‘good deals’), so somebody must know something about him and his pottery.

This “hot mama” was made in China. Cute, and the only one I’ve seen

Here’s Vandor’s “Cowmen Mooranda” of 1988 in the teapot version – there’s also a large pitcher that’s shown in the Heads theme.

Here’s another really wild one – complete with rhinestones for eyes, nostrils, and sundry decorations.  This is one of those that no one but a collector could love, so the eBay price was a bargain.

I'll confess to cheating a bit with the long-necked rhinestone teapot, since it came without its creamer and sugar and I added a couple tiny cups just so the hooks didn't look foolish.  Well, several years later, along came this complete one, without rhinestones, and I couldn't resist.  It did however cost $1 more than its partner.

This floppy eared black and white cow wins the prize for the biggest ceramic bell. It bears a 2001 copyright mark, is called “Oh My Darling Cow”, and hails from “Ontario CA 91761, Handcrafted in China, © Character Collectibles

Three more fanciful teapots – the one on the left is by “Egg Tokes, ©sigma the tastesetter”.  A matching creamer and sugar are in the Modern Variations theme.  The other two arrived via eBay (the round one on the right from Calgary Alberta), with no further information.

This one probably shouldn’t count because it just has cow or rather bull heads rather then the whole animal shape, but it’s homemade…the writing on the bottom looks to me like “Mbiiers”… and rather intriguing. I coudn’t resist.

This ‘veggie’ calf is marked for CBK Ltd of Taiwan (to learn more about CBK, check out the aluminum cow creamer near the bottom of page 3 of Modern Variations), and dated 1988;

and this one with the bluebird on its lid and a milk bottle for a spout has a leaf-shaped tag for “Khein Ceramic”.

Here’s a large pretty Holstein decorated with fruit and vegetables from the Signature Home Collection, made in China. I bought this one on eBay in 2004. I liked it enough that I recently tried to get a duplicate, but it arrived with a broken tail from too-tight packaging.

Seemingly identical, these three teapots have somewhat different histories. The one on the right, which came to me from Germany, is stamped for “Erphila, Germany” and bears the mold mark 718. Erphila ia the mark used by Ebeling and Reuss, a giftware importer and distributor founded in 1886 in Philadelphia (thus E…R…Phila) and sold to Strathmore Corp in 2002, on porcelain and art work imported from Europe. The Erphila, Germany mark would indicate that it was made by Porzellanfabrik Carl Schumann of Arzburg Bavaria which traces its history to 1876 and closed in 1994 (see PM&M, www.porcelainmarksandmore.com/bavaria/arzberg_2/00.php). Apparently in spite of the Erphila mark it never made it out of Germany, or somehow it made a return trip. The cow on the left bears the same mold mark but also a conjoined “AK” and the word foreign, which indicates it was imported for sale into the UK, which is where I got it. The middle teapot looks very similar but has a different mold mark and is both stamped and has a sticker for Cortendorf, the Bavarian city (today Coburg-Cortendorf) where (from PM&M) Porzellanfabrik Julius Griesbach operated from 1890 until the factory was taken over by Goebel in 1973. Interestingly, most Cortendorf teapots like this were sold unmarked to Ebeling and Reuss, but pretty obviously this one was sold into the US under the Cortendorf label. Not only was this an apparently popular German-made animal teapot, but…

it was also copied in the UK. Here the teapot on the left, seemingly identical to its German cousins, is stamped for Price Bros England, and clearly marked “Made in England”. The Stoke on Trent Potteries web site tells us that Price Bros. started as an earthenware manufacturer at Crown Works, Burslem from 1896-1903, continued as Price Bros (Burslem) Ltd at Top Bridge Works, Longport & the Albion Works, Burslem from 1903-1961, and became part of Price & Kensington Potteries Ltd, from 1 Jan 62 on. The mark on this treapot was used by them from 1934 till 1961. The Japanese also seem to have gotten into the act with somewhat similar teapots, although their interpretation shown here is simply stamped Made in Japan.

This is also Japanese, I believe. It came from an antique mall in Annapolis, MD. Can anyone help with the writing?

These metal teapots all hail from India.

Here is an unmarked, sacred or mythical cow.

These clay versions are from China – a couple picked up here in the states in museum shops, the others bought in Beijing.  They’re really more like water buffalos than cows…but close enough!

as are these two small metal Chinese teapots.

I think this is a quite lovely modern Chinese interpretation…and it came in its own padded box.

This one came from Hong Kong via eBay…and was sold as ‘Tibetan Jade’.   It is certainly some kind of carvable heavy rock, and I’ll take the seller’s word for it that it’s a cow…that’s as reasonable an interpretation as most anything else.

Here are two more Chinese interpretations – this time cows for sure.  The set with the creamer and sugar is of very heavy thick ceramic, and has its “Made in China” in white on an oval red sticker.

Now for a series of sets – teapots with creamers and sugars, and an occasional pitchers or salt and peppers.   This “Tabletop Set” is also made in China, but for an American importer;

Here’s another Made in China set, marked “©KMC”.  There’s a matching set of storage jars that go with it.

This pretty set, with two teapots/pitchers, is titled “Peaceful Kingdom” and claims to be hand painted faience, “exclusively for ©Seymour Mann, Inc”, dated 1992.  I certainly can’t quibble about its exclusivity, but would wonder if this isn’t a bit of a loose usage of the term faience.

Two other made in china sets, the round guys with the gold bells marked for “©J.S.N.Y.”, and the ‘barnyard’ set with bandannas and chickens on the teapot and sugar from Appletree Design .

China yet again…this time a strange looking checkerboard caricature, from “Unique Produx, Inc.”

This set of knitters bears the sticker of Applause, Inc., and was made in Thailand.

Cows go well with farm scenes.  The lady with the apron is from Coopercraft, Made in England; and the hand painted “Cow in the Corn” set is by Clay Art of San Francisco, and was made in Taiwan.

Yet another farmer – apple growers this time.  They’re from Trippie’s, Inc, and were made in China.  For some reason I keep forgetting that I have this set – I have ended up with three of the teapots, the last one bought at (of all places) Rock City on the top of Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, TN.  I guess I was bewitched by their fairies.

Loblaws Inc of Canada designed this cute Chef  set (French Chef of course), © 2007 and stamped “Life@Home and La vie @hez soi”, ‘spring meadow’ théière (Produit de Chine, of course…). Loblaws started in 1919 in Toronto as something new for the time – a ‘groceteria’ which combined self-service and cash and carry. They weathered hard times by introducing many innovations (including No Name products, President’s Choice, banking, and more recently Joe Fresh Style clothing), and today operate a successful chain of ‘market’ stores. For us Yanks that aren’t familiar with them, there’s a fun history of this innovative company on their great web page at www.loblaws.ca. I’d like to thank them for one of the neatest cow teapot sets I’ve seen in quite awhile.

This flat-faced group is part of a “Grandeur Gift Set” by “TOP maestro”, made in China. In addition to these pieces the set contains 4 cups and saucers. 

This set, which has a huge salt and pepper as well as the pitcher, sugar and creamer, bears an impressed “Japan” on the base.  It would appear to be designed to resemble the cows popularized by geo. z. lefton, see the Brands theme. 

This pristine, never used set that’s about a decade or more old comes complete with salt, pepper and cups and is marked for Otagiri.  Another one of the teapots and the little girl creamer were in the ‘Brands’ theme where that company was described.  I got those two separately, but was pleased to be able to get a full set.

Here are three older sets. The vertically stacked black ones are by Thames of Japan. The sets with heads on the handles – one water buffalos, the other cows – are unmarked, but I’d guess both sets to be from the same factory.

This is another interesting old Japanese made tea set, with just heads for the creamer and sugar.  It has a rectangular blue sticker with a white rim and “Japan” in white.

This is an unmarked set – bought obviously for the creamer.

These ladies in their pearls and fancy hats – teapot, pitcher and creamer - bear a made in China sticker.  They came from Australia via eBay.

These are from Otagiri, now one of the Enesco brands of ceramic collectibles.  The design is copyrighted for Elizabeth King Brownd, and they were manufactured in Malaysia.  As noted in Favorite Brands, Oragiri has produced quite a few cow creamers over the years.

Milk bottles with cow heads sticking out of them have been produced by quite a number of companies.  Paul Cardew of Devon, UK is responsible for the ones with spiky dark green grass around the bottom…including the little miniature.

The hefty round headed farmer in the green overalls is marked from the “Down Home Collection Made Exclusively for Roshco in the Philippines ©1995”.  Little boy blue, asleep in the hay with accompanying tiny cups, is from Department 56, and was made in China.

More farmers – two with corn, one with carrots that have endeared him to the little rabbit, one with flowers (marked “Young’s, China”) and one in blue overalls just sort of standing there (savoy housewares, made in China).

This unmarked white and black cow seems to enjoy being milked.

These two cows seem to have outgrown their barns.  The one on the left has a blue and white sticker from “The Manual Woodworkers and Weavers inc” (what they’re doing with a cow in a barn is beyond me), and the one on the right is impressed with “Mercuries 1994” and has a gold Mercuries, Pennsylvania, Made in China sticker.

The teapots on the left in both pictures, with what look like shells for horns, are paint-it-yourself ceramics.   Some people are better artists than others.  The blue ceramic teapot sort of resembles them.   The guy with the hat and the calf on his lap (from Lilian Vernon) must be doing something strange to that poor little animal to make it yelp so. 

Here are a couple musicians, but I bet they don’t play in the same band.  The cowboy with guitar is copyrighted for Russ Berrie & Co., and was made in China. There is a cream, and sugar that I think may accompany it, but they don’t have instruments.  The Blues Brothers saxophonist comes from Omnibus, ©OCI, and was made in the Philippines in 1993.

This waiter is also from Omnibus OCI 1993, and I guess he does bear a certain resemblance to the sax layer.  The dancing pair is from The Good Company, a division of Applause, Inc.  It’s dated 1989 and was made in Korea

This cow on wheels comes from the Certified International Corporation, ©Susan Winget, and was made in Thailand.

This is “Sunshine”, or so it’s inscribed on the bottom…made in Taiwan.  I must admit I don’t get the connection between the name, the chef’s hat, the overalls and the pitchfork. Not the world’s most beautiful cow teapot, but it is big…

It was the cow creamer that induced this purchase – albeit it’s a lovely Peter Rabbit rendition in its own right.  The Beatrix Potter figures were initially made by Beswick (see Favorite Brands), but they were bought by Royal Doulton in 1969.  This set dates from 1998.

This hot-pepper teapot was featured in the introductory section. It’s from Omnibus by Fitz and Floyd, and was made in Indonesia.  There’s a matching creamer and sugar.  The large white and grey teapot is unmarked.

This teapot is entitled “Fun at Breakfast” and was made in Thailand ‘exclusively’ for Debenhams, the UK Department store. 

No, it’s not a pig, it really is a cow…you can tell because it has horns. There is, however, a pig version which looks very, very similar…both by Roman, in their Patchwork Giftware line. Roman, Inc. is an Illinois-based producer and distributor of giftware and accessories.

This lumpy cow with flowers and a baby riding on top was made in China for Collections, Inc. Although it’s sort of cute I’m not overly pleased with it, for two reasons – first it’s marked ‘for decorative purposes only’ – and what good is a teapot in which you can’t make tea? And second, it’s poorly made – when it arrived, the lid wouldn’t fit properly on to the pot. I had to do a bit of surgery with a dremel tool to get it to fit.

The little purple and white cow with the tree on its back was made in Taiwan; I’ve had it since ’95.   The red and white one with the blue bow simply bears the mark ‘A3’.  Zow Cow, the three-piece ‘tea for one’ lid, pot and large cup who has center stage here, came from Italy in summer ’07.  Its box informs us it’s “Zoo tea”, Teiera e tazza in ceramica dipinta.

The sitting-up black and white cow with the blue rope that’s demonstrating how big a fish he caught is from Young’s, China.  The little lady with the asparagus licking her nose and the painter in the blue zip-up coveralls are unmarked; but the brownish and black creamer with stubby grey horns and a belt around the neck, that’s about to be painted yellow, is copyrighted for Cracker Barrel, and was made in China.

Here are three ladies, two with aprons and one with a basket of flowers.  The lady with the red apron hails from China, and the one with the white apron and light blue dress is a paint-it-yourself ceramic. You might recognize her as being from the same mold as the farm-scene lady dressed in green shown earlier.

The black and white cow with the pink nose and bandana and a brown chicken roosting on her back is a tea-for-one pot and cup.  It’s from Certified International Corporation, made in China.  The other four here are ‘barnyard stacks’ – the one with the big pink pig with the flowers on its butt and a standing rooster on its back is by Figi Graphics of San Diego, dated 2001, and was made (guess where?) in China.  The black and white cow giving a lift to a sheep and hen is copyrighted for E.K.Brown, and is by Otagiri, Japan.  The one that’s squished between the pig and the cat on a cushion is by Highland Arts, and the black and white cow bearing the sprawled pink pig and spotted chicken is from Clay Art’s 1992 “Stacked Animals Series”, made in the Philippines.

This and the next few pictures include a number of tea-for-one cups and pots.  This one is from Price and Kensington, one of the traditional potteries of  Stoke on Trent. Its tag says that P&K is part of the Arthur Wood Group; trying to find them on the web, it turns out that they in turn have been acquired and are now part of the Rayware Group  (www.rayware.co.uk).  There has apparently been a lot of consolidation and re-shuffling (along with closures) in British ceramics in the last few years. The Rayware web site notes that the Arthur Wood Company was founded in 1884, and that the origins of the Wood family go back over 250 years to the famous master potters Ralph and Enoch Wood. 

The cup/pot in the middle, with the crossed eyes and ears sticking out, is marked for Bella Cassa , by Ganz.  The calves flanking it are unmarked, but have companion pig and bunny versions. There’s a very similar one – only the cup is different – in the other picture, next to an unmarked ceramic cow whose lid is the top of its head.

The tea-for-one on the left with the ever-popular rooster on its back is standing next to a pitcher in the same pattern, by Dennis East International, Inc, ©2002, Made in China.

Here’s another small tea-for one, from Clay Art of San Francisco, ©1994, Made in Sri Lanka.

These two are, as far as I know, the only two teapots from Cows on Parade – “Where’s the Beef” on the left, and “Fruits of Summer” on the right.  They’re marked “©2000 CowParade Holdings Corporation, China”.

The orange and white teapot on the bumpy brown base is by Moorland, from “Staffordshire, Chelsea Works Burslem, England”.  A black and white version, along with a matching creamer, is shown in Favorite Brands.  The splotchy blue version, which appears to be from an identical mold, is unmarked.

The teapot in the middle came in a box marked “Kitchen Basics Novelty Teapot, Imported & Distributed by Port-Style Enterprises Inc, Markham, Ontario, Canada, Made in China”.  The two flanking it are both from Wood Pottery of Burslem.  As noted above, the Woods of Burslem date back to the three brothers Ralph, Aaron and Moses, born in the early 1700s.  The potteries web (www.thepotteries.org) site has quite a bit of information about them (and many other famous Staffordshire potters…and it lists some 32 Wood’s, including a Tony Wood whose studio produced a number of creamers in my collection…at any rate, more than enough Woods to thoroughly confuse me), including the tidbit that “Wood & Sons called in the receivers in February 2005.” 

Some black and white cows have birds.  From left to right, these are from Wang’s International Inc, dated 1993 and made in China; a repeat of the Certified International Corporation’s tea-for one; from Albert E Price Products of Bellmawr, NJ (made in China); and Midwest Importers of Cannon Falls, Inc (made in Taiwan).

  Some cow teapots wear bandanas…the one on the left is from Cook’s Club, the others are unmarked…

Here are three more made-in-China teapots, two with bandannas; the middle one is marked for “Oriental Eagle”.  The one on the right, with the red bandanna, matches a creamer and sugar from Trippies, Inc. that I bought separately sometime later.  It has to be a bit uncomfortable since its udder is sticking out on both sides as well as in front.

More cows with birds.  The one on the left is entitled “Darjeeling Bessie Teapot”.  In the center is a teapot from Potpourri Designs, and on the right is “Priscilla the Cow” by Peter Mook, whose name is incised in gold in the cow’s side.

Three sitting up, three lying down.  The one with the yellow necktie is by Standard Specialty Company, made in Taiwan.  The kneeling cow with the white daisies on her lid is from Andrea by Sadek, made in Japan.  In the middle is “Sweet Bessie’s Bouquet, © 1996 Karen Bell, Licensee, Giftcraft Inc, 14120, Handpainted in China”.  And the one on the right is marked “Design by Greg M Vale for Martinvale, Made in China”

This is a rather nice if unmarked interpretation that deserves a little section of its own because it's the only teapot in my collection that has a fly on the lid. Schuppe would be proud.

Here are three rather unusual teapots.  The one with the purple hat on the back has a sticker that attributes it to Dolgencorp, Inc, of Goddlettsville TN (made in China of course).  In the middle is a shopping lady from Gempo Giftware of Japan; and on the right, bearing a picnic lunch, is “Cornwallis the Cow Teapot”, a Kelly Theodore creation from Encore, ©KT and TEG, …once again, made in China.

The two on the left are made in China, the one with the calf on the lid from “Special Issue for Apex”.  On the right is a creamer marked for R.H.Macy & Co, made in Taiwan.

The ‘earthenware, Chubby Cow Tea Kettle’ is marked for J.S.N.Y. China.  Its three chubby neighbors are, from left to right, from Taiwan (with a mark of two hands around a flower, and S and E above the hands); from China, ©Popular Creations 2003; and unmarked, but having come to me from Queensland, Australia.

Yet more chubby, indeed round cow teapots .The one with the bird and big bulbous red nose has a bright oval yellow and maroon sticker that reads  "tii Collections, D7097 Ceramic Cow w/Bird Creamer, Handcrafted in China for Transpac, Vacaville, CA".  The one with the orange noise that's either flying or so fat its hooves don't reach the ground is English, by "Funky Animals" of Daventry, NN11 1AB.  Probably quite an embarrassment to its dignified Staffordshire ancestors.   The spherical one with small head and miniscule brown horns is unmarked.

These two are beyond chubby – pudgy, maybe. Neither is marked.

Cows with cows – two interpretations of calves getting a lift from Mom.  The one on the left is from EDC, Made in China; the other is unmarked

Here are some black and white cows.  The kneeling middle teapot in the picture of three is from Otagiri, Japan; those flanking it are unmarked.   The two stubby guys, one standing in grass and the other with white stars for a necklace, are made of very thick ceramic.  They are colored with what I believe is called ‘cold paint, meaning applied over the glaze; thus it rubs off easily.  Although unmarked, from the nature of the paint and the material, I’d guess they were fairly early post-WWII Japan or China.

The winsome looking fat hornless cow in the left is unmarked; its neighbor, whose white horns are curled forward and touch in the middle making its head look flat, simply has Japan incised.

Here are three photos of small or miniature teapots.  The tiniest one, the farmer with the milk bottle, is less than 3” tall.  The cowboy that’s standing next to the hugging Holsteins may actually be intended as a creamer, since it’s a close match to (though bought separately from) the earlier pictured cowboy with guitar, and is marked for the same maker, Russ Berrie & Co. 

These are metal whistling tea kettles, quite widely available.  The one on the left is Copco’s “Mrs. Moo”, and the one on the right from Kammenstein. Both are made in Taiwan. 

I generally have tried to avoid teapots with just pictures of cows – but the head of one on on the left is sticking out so it sort of counts, and the one on the right came as part of a set with a couple pitchers.

My wife thinks these are extremely ugly, and I find it hard to argue with her.  But beauty isn’t one of the criteria for the collection, so…they’re here, even though near the end of this theme.  The brown one, although unmarked, is most likely Thames of Japan based on the red clay, frosted brown coloring and gold knobs on the horns. The white and purple set with the big flat red noses bears the red and gold stickers of  “Lipper and Mann Creations, Japan”.  This company was founded in April 1946 as an importer of glass and ceramics from Czechoslovakia and other European companies. They had a showroom on 5th Avenue in NY, and sold to department stress and other retail outlets.  They began importing from Japan in 1947, and I’d imagine that this set dates from around then. There was a period when ugly was popular… Mr. Lipper bought out Mr. Mann in 1963, and the company since then has been Lipper International; their website from which I derived this info is www.lipperinternational.com.

These cow-jumped-over-the-moon teapots don’t meet my criteria and I wouldn’t have gotten them if there was only one version, but as you can see there are at least three.  Hey diddle diddle is popular with kids, so these were most likely designed for children’s teas.  From top to bottom they are from Blue Moon (complete with tea), Dept 56, and Wang’s International. 

Finally, for this theme, here are two fake collector’s teapots, both by Nini, a company that makes a line of these in a variety of shapes.