Dramatic Minimalism: The Teapot by Robert Foster
A cuppa tea with Australian style
Yesterday my husband Victor Drummond and I went to the Victoria & Albert Museum in Kensington in London.
We went there because I needed to see design. I say needed because for me, design is part of the air that I breathe and the closest I can be to see it, the more it feeds my soul and my work. It also helps me to keep motivated to design my own projects for our design Studio Von Der Liebl.
Because of the COVID-19, we all now have to book a ticket to get in even to see the free exhibitions and remember, museums in London are always very busy, so do that in advance. We booked ours one week before our desired date to visit and most hours were already taken.
We arrived at half past 2 in the afternoon, the museum was already quite busy, but it is an enormous place, so it was all right to wander around. Founded in 1852 and considered the largest museum of applied and decorative arts and design, as well as sculpture, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. There’s so much to talk about this place, but I’ll do that separately another day in another article.
At the V&A there are so many amazing design pieces to see, but today I want to talk about this outstanding piece I didn’t know existed but locked my eyes as soon as I looked at it.
The Teapot by Robert Foster from 2004.
The design is very modern and minimalist and in my opinion with perfect colour choices. The blue of the handle is my favourite and it reminds me of the Blue by Yves Klein which is my favourite blue colour in the entire world. But the drama is drawn by the black colour and the contrast with the gold of the spout which is purposely off-centre. Dynamic but harmonious as says, Foster.
For more information about this Dramatic Minimalist piece, see below.
Physical description
Teapot, the body of anodized aluminium, polished black, flat sides which all taper towards the top. The top, flat with a flat, polished black acrylic lid, half moulded end and is hinged by a horizontal steel pin which pass through the side walls of the body. The flat base is TIG welded to the side walls. The handle is a circular section of aluminium tube, brush finished and anodized a deep, rich blue and the spout, a short section of tube of identical diameter passes through the handle and is parallel to the base. The spout was also given a brushed finished before being anodized a gold colour. The handle and spout are bolted on from the inside and are insulated with heat resistant washers to seal and prevent the transfer of heat to these components.
Place of Origin
Queanbeyan (made)
Date
2004 (made)
Artist/maker
Foster, Robert, born 1962 – died 2016 (maker)
Materials and Techniques
Aluminium, drop forged, anodised and polished, acrylic handle
Marks and inscriptions
Incised with cross on the base (maker’s mark).
Dimensions
Height: 29.2 cm, Length: 25.5 cm, Width: 6.5 cm maximum
Historical context note
This teapot was purchased from the Scottish Gallery stand at the COLLECT exhibition, organised by the Crafts Council, Victoria and Albert Museum, 09/02/2006 – 13/02/2006.
Descriptive line
Aluminium, forged and anodized, acrylic lid, designed and made by Robert Foster, Queanbeyan (nr. Canberra, ACT) New South Wales, Australia, 2004.
Bibliographic References (Citation, Note/Abstract, NAL no)
Merryn Gates ed. Robert Foster Critical Play, Lyneham, ACT, (Australia), SFA Press, 2013, p..53. ill. ISBN: 9780980B23356
Labels and date
Gallery 116: Belinda Gentle Metalware Gallery
2. TEAPOT
Anodised aluminium, with acrylic
Canberra, Australia, 2004
Designed and made by Robert Foster (1962-2016)
Incised with cross on the base (maker’s mark)
The designer gave this teapot a circular handle to emphasise the action of pouring, and placed the handle and spout off-centre. This, says Foster, enabled the ‘simple geometric forms to create a dynamic but harmonious dialogue’. He made the body of the teapot by pressing rectangular aluminium tubing into a tapered form and then coloured it by anodisation, using electricity.
Museum no. M.2-2006 [10/01/2007]
Materials
Aluminium; Acrylic
Techniques
Forging (metal forming); TIG welding; Anodizing; Polishing
Categories
Drinking; Metalwork; Tea, Coffee & Chocolate wares
Collection
Metalwork Collection
SOURCE: V&A LONDON