
FRENCHIE'S TEA TOTE, A CERAMIC TEAPOT
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- This stoneware ceramic teapot is hand-built. It is another in the series of teabags, a term I coined to represent clay teapots created in the form of designer handbags, many with pets emerging, as in this case.
- The French bulldog's head and paws for this piece are sculpted in wet clay; spout, handles, leather straps, buckles and clasps are formed from extruded clay reworked to shape.
- The faux fabric exterior surface of the teapot's body is made by press mold to emulate silk brocade.
- Clay sculpted dog bone figure at back of dog's neck serves as teapot's lid.
- Construction sequence:
- Shown at Critters, University of New England Art Gallery, Portland, ME, 2011; Texas Teapot Tournament, Houston Potters Guild, Clay Art Museum and Educational Organization (CAMEO), Houston, TX, 2012.
- Date: 2010.
- Size: 16.0" x 9.0" x 7.0".
- Sold to a Hong Kong buyer.
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ENLARGED VIEWS

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CREATIVE PROCESS

- Early development of this work involves hand-building the basic structure by means of clay slabs.
- The surfaces of the body of the teapot are fashioned with press mold technique to impart a fabric pattern.
- The French bulldog emerging from the interior of the teabag (a coined term for a teapot created in the form of a handbag) is sculpted in place.
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- Further construction enhancements are made with addition of spout, handles, straps, buckles and clasps of extruded clay reshaped to design.
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- Underglazing is completed by painting and air-brushing the glazes onto the surfaces of the work. In the course of this process, some of the glaze is removed by means of a sponge to reveal and enhance the surface texture.
- The piece is then subject to refiring to cone 5.
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- The work is almost completed by firing it one last time for vitrification of the luster coating.
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