Animal teapts and personal applications in ceramic art today

Tea, originally emerged as a remedy for illnesses, gradually transformed into an indispensable daily beverage consumed by people. The tea plant, originating from China, spread to different regions such as Japan, Vietnam, and India, becoming a universally recognized drink by the 18th century. Following this introduction, the need for a vessel to drink tea arose, giving rise to teapots. Teapots, shaped like a kettle, consist of three parts: handle, body, and spout, known as the lid, body, and spout in contemporary terminology. It is known that teapot forms have been created in various shapes and designs throughout history. When looking from the past to the present, it can be observed that teapot designs have emerged in different forms and models. The diversification of teapots over time has turned them into artistic objects used for decoration in addition to their functional purpose. One of the prominent ideas encountered today is the breaking of the conventional image of a teapot, eliminating the necessity for a handle, lid, or spout, and giving rise to new and different designs. While these designs continue to evolve, ideas have been developed by drawing inspiration from nature, resulting in imaginative objects. These objects can take various forms and cover a wide range of topics. The combination of animal-inspired shapes with teapot forms has led to the creation of unique and distinct teapots. In this thesis, teapot forms made from the past to the present have been examined, along with the works of national and international ceramic artists, to explore functional and non-functional teapots. Animal-inspired non-functional teapots have been researched, categorized, and based on the obtained data, new forms have been created using ceramic materials. In conclusion, it has been observed that the teapot form, which has existed from the past to the present, has been taken as a subject by ceramic artists and represented in different forms as ceramic artworks. Based on the findings of this research, animal-inspired non-functional teapot forms have been created as personal applications.