Computer crash

We're having work done on the house, there are electricians present and they want to turn the main power supply off - hang on, I need to turn my computer off! No problem is the reply from the ground floor and I notice that my computer is usefully telling me that I should NOT turn off just yet as it is updating important software.......the screen goes blank as the computer turns off. Did it update properly or did the pesky electricians turn off the power too soon? Yep, you guessed it - they screwed up my operating software and so out comes the old back-up system while I try to find someone to fix the main system for me. You'll be pleased to hear that it's now well again....
While travelling around (with sick computer in tow looking for a computer A&E) I came across this beauty (below) nestling in the corner of rural England and it is an interesting follow-on from the last pot house I detailed in my last posting. Although this was built by a Staffordshire factory (according to the hallmark in 1836) it is another great example of an early eco-pot. Like the pot in the previous post, this baby was designed to collect rain water which would run down the lovely red and green striped gullies (seen on the outside of the upper part of the house) to be collected at the base (in a tank found just above the living space) thus creating its own water supply. A really clever idea but it had a major flaw - the external water running down the outside of the pot would quickly cool the brewing tea inside. Not good especially when you would obviously need tea during a rain storm. Not many made. Poor show.....

Tudor Teapot

This is a very rare teapot - it's rarity is not due to the lack of numbers produced (in fact over 1,000 of these were produced over a three year period) but to it's longevity. They were manufactured in Derby by Hardwrights & Co who were at the peak of production in the 1850's and were considered groundbreaking in their designs. The Tudor Teapot was the first to introduce chimneys (the heat from which helped retain the temperature of the tea and those living within) and, of course, as the name suggests, they were constructed using timber and thus adding to the general insulation. Please note the distictive 'ball and claw' feet.

There was, however, a serious design fault where the timbers would untlimately suffer from wet rot and the handle would fall away from the main building. This would result in the structure crashing to the ground and thus crushing (and usually killing) the occupants. The manufacturers eventuallty ceased manufacturing the product - a very early case of Health & Safety amongst these factories.

An unusual find

When I first saw this teapot I found it confusing as it suggested a persian origin but then I realised that the green larchlap towards the top would suggest a Dutch manufacture. The hallmark on the bottom immediately told me that it was manufactured by the well known craftsmen, the Van Corag brothers, who were at their prime in the mid 18th Century when their factory was based in the outskirts of Amsterdam (it later moved to larger premises in Haarlem). They were well recognised for both creating the perfect internal facilities for tea infusion while still maintaining very spacious living quarters. I believe it was the Van Corag brothers who first introduced the the two way 'frogget' valve which enabled the boiling water (essential for the perfect brew of tea) from scolding those living below. The only other interesting fact about these brothers is that, although they always agreed on the the design of the main body of their structures, they could NEVER agree on the handle and spout and so they designed these individually. One brother was gay and so it was suggested that he always designed the handle but this isn't documented in the factory records.

Wedding caricatures but not as we know them....

I was recently commissioned by a bride to be to draw a caricature of both the bestman and usher (from photographs) which is not very usual as I normally draw them AT the wedding itself! Anyway, I'd been working on a new technique (for me anyway) where I don't draw any prelimenary pencil lines but put the black ink down straight away and if it works i.e. I think it looks like them, I put the watercolour wash on. The results are below and yes, they only wanted black & white images rather than full colour:


This was the bestman



and this was the usher.....

I've been trawling through the teapot temple images again and I came across this one:


You'll notice that there's been a bit of damage to this teapot between the junction of the spout and the main body which has obviously been very badly repaired. That'll greatly reduce the re-sale value.....