Boston Chinese Tea, made in 2005, is based on a 17th century Chinese Blue and White teapot shown in a Christie's catalog as an iconic example of Chinese blue and white porcelain. The original teapot from 300 years ago was 8" in height. My 21st century version is significantly larger, standing at 15" tall and fabricated primarily from the tin can packaging of Boston Chinese Tea.

Pre-printed steel from recycled tin containers, 10k gold and aluminum rivets, stainless steel screws.

Dimensions: 15.5" H x 11.5"W (at spout) x 10.5"D

Private Collection

Chinese blue and white porcelain has been replicated for many centuries. Europeans began making copies soon after the first rare examples arrived from China. In the present day, the familiar blue and white patterns are even printed on tin cans and trays such as the Boston Chinese Tea tins. The image from Christie's Collectibles Teapots book that inspired Boston Chinese tea is shown on the left.

This "BIG GULP" sized teapot might theoretically hold as much as the advertised 72 cups of tea on the tea tin packaging.

One of the steel trays used to make this teapot had this interesting statement printed on the bottom: "This lithography on metal reproduction is so faithfully rendered that it has the appearance of real porcelain, and has won several awards for its quality."