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june's dislikes, and of the 'where' a spout be on a tea pot...

updated tue 23 jul 02

 

Pottery by Dai on sat 20 jul 02


Phil said:
...a Coffee Pot.... had the Spout up high.

Probably so the "grounds" wouldn't pour out with the coffee.

I don't stir my tea when it's in the pot, so having the spout low down makes
sense, for reasons June has already mentioned. I was intrigued with June's
3 things that she doesn't like; I'd never thought about it before, but they
make sense!

Dai in Armstrong, BC - a little cooler today. Whew!
nightfire@telus.net
www.potterybydai.com

Take your work seriously---take yourself lightly. Unknown

Philip Poburka on sat 20 jul 02


Yahhhh...and it used to be, or was common design (sense) and maybe
knowledge, that a Coffee Pot ( that is a 'Coffee Pot', being the 'pot' one
serve the Coffe in at Table) had the Spout up high.

And a Tea Pot ( that is a 'Tea Pot', being the 'pot' one serve the Tea in at
Table)
had a Spout down low.

Some of these were as one may make the Coffee or the Tea in, by
steeping...some were for serving either, as when t hey were made in larger
quantities and decanted into these...

Have some old Nickle Plated (copper underneath) Coffee Pots and Tea Pots,
not fancy ones...but 'nice'...about the same size...the Spouts tell ye
'which' is which.

Phil
Las Vegas...


----- Original Message -----
From: "Bacia Edelman"
To:
Sent: Saturday, July 20, 2002 5:25 PM
Subject: June's dislikes


> Or I shd. use her subject: Re: 10 points for the ignorant.
> June Perry wrote:
>
> >>Another thing is teapots -- I prefer the spout being closer to the base
of
> the pot so that when you pour, you are getting the stronger tea first. If
> the spout it at the top of the pot, by the time you get to the bottom of
the
> pot you have a very strong, unpleasant decoction of bitter tea.<<
>
> Well, we should get Janet Kaiser in on this. She once wrote about
> the proper way to make tea. And I picked up most of her habits when
> we lived in London. But she did mention stirring the contents of the pot
> after steeping. Therefore, Janet or any of you other mavens of tea-
> drinking, wouldn't the post-steeping
> stirring obviate the bitterness of the tea
> as the pot was drained? Maybe June has long, long conversations
> over her tea.
> Anyway, when I make teapots that are supposed to be functional, I
> do not place the spouts near the bottom. When I make the hand-built
> kind that are artsy-fartsy (or that might get into shows), the best
> ones seem to have a long spout starting near the base. On clayart,
> not too long ago, David Hendley decried the practice of placing
> spouts near the base of teapots.
> I think it affected the one
> I made a couple weeks ago. It was sculptural and though it
> could function, is meant for a gallery invite, if it comes out
> well from glaze firing.
> Just my input. We can't all agree!!
> Bacia
>
>
>
>
> Bacia Edelman Madison, Wisconsin
> http://users.skynet.be/russel.fouts/bacia.htm
> http://www.silverhawk5.com/edelman/index.html
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
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>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.

Philip Poburka on sun 21 jul 02


Had - have - these old few Coffee and Tea Pots on shelfs, up high in my
kitchen...sometimes I use them if I have company.

One time, a friend came over with a girl who was visiting the States from
some part of rural Romania.
She spoke some English...she looks up...nods to a specific area up on the
shelf, says ( in a wonderful Romanian accent...)
"You haveing a nice old Tea Pot"...

(The Tea Pot in question is a nice if 'simple' Nickle Plated Copper,
One-Quart roughly, fairly tall, stubby 'light-house' shape, of
sorts...having an 'Ebonized' Wooden Handle...hinged
lid...and sets about two feet from a Coffee Pot as has about the same
'look', capacity, height, similar Handle, similar lid-top, but has the Spout
higher up...)

No one in all these years that I know of, who had been over to my place, had
ever knew the difference
without being
told...or cared...I was so happy...!

I took it down...made some Black 'Tea'...

Phil
Las Vegas...

----- Original Message -----
From: "Pottery by Dai"
To:
Sent: Saturday, July 20, 2002 8:37 PM
Subject: Re: June's dislikes, and of the 'where' a Spout be on a Tea Pot...


> Phil said:
> ...a Coffee Pot.... had the Spout up high.
>
> Probably so the "grounds" wouldn't pour out with the coffee.
>
> I don't stir my tea when it's in the pot, so having the spout low down
makes
> sense, for reasons June has already mentioned. I was intrigued with
June's
> 3 things that she doesn't like; I'd never thought about it before, but
they
> make sense!
>
> Dai in Armstrong, BC - a little cooler today. Whew!
> nightfire@telus.net
> www.potterybydai.com
>
> Take your work seriously---take yourself lightly. Unknown
>
>
____________________________________________________________________________
__
> Send postings to clayart@lsv.ceramics.org
>
> You may look at the archives for the list or change your subscription
> settings from http://www.ceramics.org/clayart/
>
> Moderator of the list is Mel Jacobson who may be reached at
melpots@pclink.com.

Cindi Anderson on sun 21 jul 02


I confess, although I am a devout tea drinker, I don't use a tea pot anymore
because I have an automatic gizmo that steeps the tea the authentic way, and
is the best! But what is interesting to me about this thread is that after
looking at all those teapots, I was going to ask about the ones with the
high spouts. They just are not to my taste (aesthetically speaking.) I was
going to ask if the high spout and the low spout evolved from different
historical perspectives (i.e. Asia vs. Europe). Maybe because I love tea
and hate coffee, I that just transfers to their respective shapes!

Cindi
Fremont, CA