Final 3 Moulds.

I have chosen this image to be in my top 3 because I love how rustic and old looking it is.

My favourite part of the image is the date on it; I am a fan of history so I personally feel like the date makes the image. It is also the center of attention in the middle of the image.

The texture of the image also I think is quite nice, I like how on the mould you can see rough edgy lines also engraved into the mould which I think gives some depth to the image.

I also think that the range of colours and greys are used well in this image also. I think that the contrast is nice that shows us several shades of grey.





My second image is this. I have chosen this one because it reminds me slightly of an advertisement shoot. The angle of the image is looking down onto the mould and I love how it has been written on saying: "Persian Coffee" it makes me want to know more about the mould or what it was made from;

The bottom of the mould gives off an idea that it has legs and I think it is quite refreshing as it’s not actually real but I think it’s quite humorous; I like the depth of field in this because the camera is sharp looking at the mould and that the background is out of focus.

 










This one is one of my main favourites because of various reasons. The composition of the image is fantastic. The lines direct your eyes to more than one place and it directs the viewer when looking at the image, the main line across the image is a leading beam.

Even though this could be quite a distracting image to the eye I think that it works quite well because the colours in the background are quite contrastable and there are several shades of grey like the image before, I also think that even you look at this image enlarged, it can look quite haunting.

Spode Factory mould Contact Sheet.

This is the contact sheet that I made which has moulds on going back from 200 years old. I found this quite a challenge to photograph but at the same time easier than the Teapots because they weren't kept in glass cases.

I also think that this was just as hard to photograph because they were all stacked high and I could not move any of them because I may have damaged them so I had the task of taking the images at different angles to get the best possible shot I could.

Spode Factory Research

Josiah Spode I ran his factory for almost 30 years, his productions were unmarked and therefore very few of the earliest Spode pieces can be easily identified.

It is thought that he produced a wide range of ceramic bodies, often imitating those of Wedgwood, including creamwares, basalts, stonewares, redwares, Jasperwares and blue-printed pearlwares and early experimental porcelains.

The Spode collection includes 40,000 ceramic items spanning over 200 years from the late 18th Century to 2008. It also includes some 25,000 engraved copper plates from which transfer prints were made for printed ceramic wares.

Josiah I focused his attention on the manufacture of porcelain, a more difficult but much finer material than he had previously made.

  In 1796 he introduced a new type of porcelain which he originally called “Stoke China” but shortly afterwards renamed “Bone China”, because of the high proportion of calcined ox-bone in its formula.

  It outclassed all other contemporary English porcelains not just in terms of beauty but also of reliability of manufacture, and is recognised as the forerunner of all modern English Bone China.

Some of the Bone china collection I was able to photograph which was on the Teapot contact sheet.

Teapot Research.

Josiah Wedgwood.

Josiah Wedgwood was one of the most famous pottery makers, he went to create and experiment avidly with different clay pieces,
throughout his lifetime he came to create 3 famous bodies, which are Queens Ware in 1762, Black Basalt in 1768 and finally Jasper in 1774.

These still remain famous to this day.

In 1762, Josiah Wedgwood then met a man named Thomas Bentley, a Liverpool merchant who had travelled widely on the Continent and possessed a sound knowledge of classical and Renaissance art.

Today, the Josiah Wedgwood and Thomas Bentley collection celebrates their partnership and encompasses the finest Wedgwood ornamental ware and luxury tableware, with each item made in England and meticulously decorated by hand by Master Craftsmen.




I had also been struggling to find research about photographers who photographed Teapots, so I had gone onto websites and image websites for example, http://www.redbubble.com/explore/tea+teapot+flowers+photography?
ref=explore_tag_refinement
and try to find teapots where I could take similar images of:



This image jumped out at me because it was not taken from a likely angle, I like how it is positioned and I think that it is quite refreshing to see that it was taken from the top looking downwards rather than the sides.

Introduction

A teapot is the vessel used to infuse tea leaves in hot water and consists of a pouring spout (which can have a built-in strainer), a handle, a lid sometimes with a small hole to alleviate pressure when pouring, and the main vessel, usually globular in shape. They can be made of glass (enabling you to see flowering teas blossom and regular tea brewing) , ceramic, metal or silver.

Final 4 Tea Images

 

This teapot is called a Blue Italian; it is the most famous and also continuous teapot since it has been produced in 1816. Even though factories have now closed these are still being made – to date. 

This has made my top 3 because of the sheer size and look of the object.

 When researching this, I found out that it is not actually a tea pot which disappointed me but instead it is used as a ‘punch pot’.

 

It was made in the early 1800’s. It is 16.75 wide and 11.5’ high. It is called a tower pattern and was made in 1818.

  

 

This teapot is called Cadogan, I love it because of how it looks and the design grabs my attention.
The idea that it was designed to have no lid really took my interest and is to be filled through a hole in the base; liquid is then fed into the pot via an internal tube.
This teapot is called a Blue Italian; it is the most famous and also continuous teapot since it has been produced in 1816. Even though factories have now closed these are still being made – to date.




  

 This teapot is the Bone China Custre Teapot,

platinum gold made and when the gilding was applied, the technique used Mercury and mirrors of day, people used to enjoy the decoration with candlelight in 1806.

I particularly like this tea pot because of how grand it looks, I think that the use of colours on the pot goes really well, I love also how they have used platinum gold into it as the other pots are just either painted or have a floral pattern on it.

Tea Pot Contact Sheet.

This is the Contact Sheet for the Teapot Factory I have took.

There are on a few of the images some slight reflections from the cabinets but most of them are clear. It was quite hard to photograph these as I asked if they could be taken out of the cabinet to be photographed but they would not let me.

I have photographed these mainly with the same depths of field. I have used the same type of depth of field throughout the photoshoot as I could not really experiment with others.

I have found that with focusing on one thing up close with the background out of focus tha it can be more direct to the Teapot which is the most important thing to look at.