Interesting blue and white arts and crafts aesthetic style teapot Mystery

by Matthew Creber
(London, UK)

I run a community drop-in group, with a number of regular members. We meet at Holy Trinity Church in Tottenham, and provide a space for people who are isolated, or looking for something to do on a friday afternoon.

One of them has collected a lot of interesting objects over the years, and has a teapot that she is particularly fond of and interested in. She says that if she found out more about it, it would really make her day!

She's been using it for years, and uses is as a special pot when she has friends or family visiting, or when she has some kind of occasion. She has loved and treasured it for a long time.

She's had it for about 30 years, and she bought it in a second hand/antiques shop. It already had a crack in the lid, and we suspect that it's not that old, because it has a stamped number on the bottom and no other marks - but it looks like the patterns are based on something older. She'd like know more about the flowers which look a little bit like thistles, and the bird on the spout, which we think might be a swan, or maybe an ostrich. We'd also be interested in finding out more about how it was made.

It seems to be made of some sort of earthenware, and it has a raised pattern, with an interesting crosshatch design with lots of little indentations behind it. There's some scroll work at the top, and what looks like the remains of a seam along the back where the handle is. The number on the bottom reads 428.

We've had a fun afternoon as a group, reading websites which tell us about how to identify different kinds of pottery. We've learnt about flow-blue glaze, and different shapes and sizes. We've learnt about how pots have been formed at different stages in history, and where some of the patterns come from. We know that it can't be too old, because there are about 6 well-formed holes where the spout meets the body. We've learnt that reproductions tend to not have any glaze on the bottom or on the areas around the rim, and this one seems to be a production... but of what?! I would guess that this is probably from china and is missing its 'made in china' sticker... but Maria disagrees, suggesting that it's a lot older.

We also have a drop in group for secondary-age children who join us later in the afternoon, and they have joined in the conversation. "I wonder if it's worth a lot of money" said Alex, who's yr8. Aisha says its 'inspiring'. But of course we had to put it away once more young people had joined us, because they can be very boisterous, and we didn't want to risk damaging it.

The lid also has a circular handle, which looks a little like a celtic cross, and then some more flowers on the top. It doesn't fit properly, probably because of the repairs done to it. There are also holes drilled in the underside of the lid where it has been repaired.

Even if it's not very old, or not worth much, we'd still love to know more, because it's been a fascinating topic of conversation all afternoon. The more we look on the internet and find nothing like like it, the more unique it seems, but we'd be happy to be proven wrong! Please - confirm to her the power of the internet - lets see if we can find out any more about this item.