A wall in our studio is adorned with an eclectic collection of kitchen clocks varying from the starkly practical to the curiously kitsch. With a foot – or rather a hand – in both camps, this ‘teapot’ puts the fun in functional by recycling utilitarian components to create a slightly bizarre artefact.
It’s obvious that this timepiece has been carefully conceived and lovingly made, albeit by someone with the craft skills of an apprentice plumber: let’s just say the engineering is more Meccano set than Rolex finesse. It’s a tad ironic that an actual teapot has been dismantled to create something that looks like a teapot. It’s especially odd that although the real teapot has been plundered for parts, its spout has been shunned in favour of a short length of bland brass piping.
Still, it’s this unpretentious DIY aesthetic that gives the clock its loveable, naive charm. It resonates of something constructed with pride either in the musty confines of a suburban garden shed or in the Occupational Therapy ward of a 1950s institution.
We’d love to know who devoted the time (and a teapot) to this endearing clockwork chimera. And just what it was that made them tick.
