In my last post, I talked about revisiting the UK. One of the things I decided to do was get my tourist hat on, take trips down memory lane in London, and in one of my trips, I came across this:

The typeface of the letters against the backdrop of a blue sky made me smile when I walked past.  The Tea Building, according to their website, is a centre for the media and creative industry based in East London.  I also loved their bill board:

I think we can all agree that we need tea 🙂

So, from tea and art in the street, I made a trip to the Victoria and Albert Museum to discover tea and art indoors. There are collections of art from Korea, Japan, and India, and naturally, as a tea enthusiast, I was drawn to the tea ware. When I went to the China room, I was amazed at the vibrancy of the colours. Two pieces really captured my heart.

This gorgeous Gaiwan shown above was made in the 1800’s in the Qing Dynasty.  The detail on this porcelain beauty is absolutely divine!  I especially liked the hole in the leaf which reminded me of the work of a Jacid ‘leaf hopper’ which bites on an oolong leaf to promote oxidation, but maybe that’s my imagination running wild, I don’t know. 

The beau-tea-ful teapot shown below was made in the 1600s. The bamboo detail, especially on the spout and the handle, was stunning.

On we go, from the history of Chinese tea ware to a 20^th century movement.  Postmoderism according to Wikipedia is a reaction to the modernism movement.  It was a movement that was rebellious, a critique, and controversial.  The exhibition featured architecture, art, fashion, design and music from 1970-1990 and as a movement; the teapots were wacky, silly, colourful and brought a smile to my face.

The picture at right shows two of my favourite teapots. Aren’t the colours so vibrant and the design just zany?

Modernism is about design which should derive directly from its purpose, and this last teapot shown below captures the true essence of postmodernism, which argues that form doesn’t have to follow function; it can just be fun. Do you have a teapot in your collection that is both functional and fun?

A Disney inspired design shown below:

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