Variations on a Theme: Teapots from RAM’s Collection

January 29 – July 9, 2017

Ah Leon
Trunk Teapot with Bent Branch No. 749, 1994
Earthenware
11 1/2 x 10 3/4 x 5 7/8 inches
Racine Art Museum, Gift of David and Jacqueline Charak
Photography: Jon Bolton

While the teapot as a functional object can be traced back about 800 years to China, the form is familiar in Western Europe and the United States. As the teapot became connected to status and luxury via trade centuries ago, Western manufacture began in earnest. Most of the earliest teapots were metal, yet within the context of contemporary craft, most are associated with ceramics. RAM’s holdings include teapots made in a variety of materials, yet those made of clay are the most numerous.

In 1999, collector Donna Moog offered RAM a gift of over 250 teapots. The impact of the Moog collection cannot be understated as it represents a large body of work by diverse artists in a range of styles. Since this gift, RAM has added over 100 teapots from other donors, thereby establishing one of the largest public collections of contemporary artist-made teapots in the United States.

Visitors were encouraged to vote for their favorite teapot in the exhibition. At the close of the show, the ten teapots with the most votes stayed on display for an extended period of time.

More About the Exhibition

Exhibition Gallery Guide (PDF)

Press Room

Artists in the Exhibition

Daniel J. Anderson, Adrian Arleo, Ralph Bacerra, Clayton Bailey, Susan Beiner, Jerry Berta, Martin and Judy Bibby, Triesch Voelker and Gina Bobrowski, Robin Campo, Marek Cecula, Beth Changstrom, Michael Cohen, Annette Corcoran, Philip Cornelius, David Damkoehler, Stephen Dixon, Eddie Dominguez, Jack Earl, Raymon Elozua, Ellen Fager, Fred Fenster, Ken Ferguson, Leopold Foulem, Keiko Fukazawa, John Glick, Evelyn Grant, Chris Gustin, Sergei Isupov, Karen Karnes, Les Lawrence, Leslie B Lee, Ah Leon, Michael Lucero, Richard Marquis, Dennis Meiners, Richard Millette, Steven Montgomery, Matt Nolen, Richard Notkin, Kevin O’Dwyer, Mark Pharis, David Regan, John Revelry, Amy Sabrina, Red Weldon Sandlin, Adrian Saxe, Scott Schoenherr, Yoko Sekino-Bové, Mark Shapiro, Richard Shaw, Michael Sherrill, Patrick Siler, Akio Takamori, Irvin Tepper, George Walker, Jason Walker, Patti Warashina, Kurt Weiser, and Beatrice Wood