Tea Service. 1994.

The was the final major self directed project in the Three Dimensional Design Ceramics area at the end of the one year BTEC Diploma in Foundation Studies in Art and Design. Self directed in that in consultation with my Three Dimensional Design tutor John Lansley it was decided for me to research design and make an eccentric ceramic tea service. The tea service would be made up of a teapot, two cups and saucers with spoons, a tea caddy, a milk jug and a sugar bowl with a spoon. The starting point for ideas would be my research drawings of agricultural implements at Reaseheath College near Nantwich. The shapes of those agricultural implements would then form the basis of the shapes of the items in the tea service. Other influences for my tea service were taken from tin-glazed earthenware pottery, New York’s Chrysler Building, ships, jousting knights, fairground golden gallopers, guns and Bulleid’s air-smoothed pacific steam locomotives.

​All the parts of the tea service were made of slabs of White Saint Thomas clay. White tin glaze was used and decorated with various ceramic colours in a very over the top manner. All the parts were glazed fired to 1060 degrees centigrade. I also shaped pieces of copper to make the copper parts of the spoons.