Provenance
I remember seeing a weird steel coffee pot on the windowsill in my ninety-year-old grandmother’s kitchen and asking her where it was from. Proudly, the grandmother replied that it was the Royal Holland Pewter Coffee Pot, but nothing ringed a bell for me. I asked about it more, and it turned out to be a wedding gift that her parents gave her and her grandad back in the 1950s. She remembered it coming with a sugar bowl, but she must have misplaced it somewhere. Grandmother said that she would have given the teapot to my mother on her wedding day, but she did not want it and asked if I would like to receive it someday and make it an heirloom, and I agreed.
Physical Description
The teapot has a lot of wear and tear and appears to be well-loved but is in good condition considering that it is more than seventy years old. Although it was not expensive at all, my grandmother took care of it very well and cleaned and polished it often. The object has an interesting pear shape while its handle is wrapped in cane. The cane used to be replaced at one point for a new one because a cat ate through it, and without the wrapping, the handle can be very hot when tea is poured into the vessel. The teapot’s lid appears to be the shape of a pear’s top, mimicking a small pear leaf that can be used to hold the lid when the pot is hot. In terms of size, the teapot looks around nine inches long and six inches wide; it is very lightweight, which is deceiving considering its size.
Personal History and Memories
For my grandmother, the teapot was a signifier of her growing up and was the gift that she wanted to cherish and love despite it not being expensive. I remember her making tea for her girlfriends in the pot as they gathered together for a good club, and I distinctly remember grandfather saying, “Our marriage is as strong as that teapot – despite the years, it has never broken.” My grandmother has even instructed me to polish it once in a while with what turned out to be a mixture of linseed oil and rottenstone. Every time I was amazed by the fact how the mixture turned the teapot from dull grey to shining silver. I have even found the process to be quite therapeutic because it has shown how effort can make something trivial appear special. When I was researching the teapot online, I found that it is being sold for around $10 online, which means that the item has little monetary value but is dear to my heart because of its personal significance.
Date or Era
According to my grandmother, the teapot was manufactured in the Netherlands in the early 1950s. The dishware design in the 1950s has not reached its full midcentury peak yet with classical mod designs. In the 50s, more rounder shapes were in fashion, while in the 60s, the objects got a more refined and minimalist look. KMD Tiel Royal Holland was quite a popular brand of dishware and its items could be purchased at department stores. Upon closer inspection, I have even noticed the KMD Tiel engravement, which says “Royal Holland Pewter Made in Holland.”
Importance to American History from 1865-Today
While a teapot is nothing remarkable in its essence, it is a staple item in the vast majority of households because everyone drinks tea. It is likely that the first teapots were brought to America by European immigrants, with the item being integrated into the routine of Americans. Teapots date back to the Chinese Sung Dynasty (960-1279), when the first evidence of tea drinking is available1. The tea leaves were pounded into a fine powder, mixed with boiling water, and then mixed with a bamboo brush, which is quite different from the way Americans drink tea.
In the United States, teapots have gone through different styles and designs as many households did, reflecting specific historical events or general preferences and tastes of each decade. The KMD Tiel Royal Holland teapot is representative of design’s modernization, symbolizing its utilitarianism. While there were also teapots that had intricate designs on them and could be viewed as pieces of art, the grandmother’s teapot is the opposite – it was meant to be used in American households every day, which gave it immense value. Often, things that are being used every day and were inexpensive add more value and meaning to life compared to expensive and luxurious items that have never been touched.
Photographs
While I do not have a photograph of the family heirloom on me, I have found similar teapots being sold online, and they look just like my grandmother’s. I have also found the image of the sugar bowl that my grandmother misplaced and showed it to her, she said that I was just like the one in the photo. I think this is just the item that I can pass down to my kids on their wedding days just for the fun of it, and they can do the same.
Bibliography
Ostermann, Matthias and David Whiting. The Ceramic Narrative. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press: 2006.
Footnotes
- 1. Matthias Ostermann and David Whiting, The Ceramic Narrative (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press: 2006), 36.