Minneapolis Institute of Art

Teapot with saucer from Tea for Two service

Designer: Eric Slater; Manufacturer: Shelley Potteries (a.k.a. Foley Works)

Date

c. 1930

Medium

Porcelain

Department

European Art

Institution

Minneapolis Institute of Art

As modernism took hold English potteries employed artists to keep their wares up-to-date for consumers in the nascent era of planned obsolescence, when new styles replaced old on an ever-faster basis. The colorful abstraction of Art Deco, introduced to a global audience at the Paris Universal Exposition of Decorative Arts in 1925, was embraced in England by designers such as Susie Cooper and Eric Slater; the latter's teapot for a tea service features bold sunburst patterns radiating across the white teapot with a stepped lid and angular handle and spout. The playful but abstract design was of-the-moment but appealing to a middle-class market, especially for morning tea. Europe

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