You are looking at some of the earliest porcelain in England. However we don’t think it ever went into production.
The teapot was made between 1746 and 1754 in a pottery previously attributed to William Steers. They tried to copy Chinese porcelain, which was in demand. Look closely at the 3d model and you will see it is has been pieced together, it is incomplete and the glaze is imperfect.
Our teapot was glued together from ‘wasters’ from the Pomona Inn site, Newcastle-under-Lyme in 1967. This is how it got its name. It has a Chinese landscape design complete with willow tree and pagoda on the body of the teapot. ‘Wasters’ are ceramics damaged during firing and thrown away. We believe there were only one or two unsuccessful firings as no known complete piece exists.
Image credits: Project co-ordinated with Professor Neil Brownsword, Jan Korenko (Senior Lecturer), David Edwards (Technical Specialist) and Richard Harper (Lecturer), Staffordshire University.
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