This page is devoted to Rarities and Oddities that our Appraisers have recently encountered.

Our most recent Oddity
Submitted by Kathleen D. Victor, ISA CAPP

A senior lady brought this "teapot" into an evaluation event and told me she recalls as a small girl, her grandmother used it for tea and called it her "Magic Teapot". However she never told her how it actually worked. I explained the vessel is typically called a "puzzle pot" because it appears to defy gravity with no lid, a spout and an opening in the bottom where liquid did not escape once filled. Then I explained how it worked. I pointed out the tiny hole on the inside of the handle which is part in function of why the liquid remains in the vessel. It was a real treat to see the surprise on her face when she finally learned (after 80 years) just how her grandmother used her "Magic Teapot".

This Chinese Export porcelain, which appears to be a teapot dates from mid to late 19th Century. It is hand painted in the famille rose pattern called Rose Mandarin. It was actually a ewer for warm wine and is called a Cadogon. It is named after the Earl of Cadogon, who introduced this unique Chinese Porcelain form into the West. The pot is filled from the bottom, but when upright, the wine will only flow from the spout. The pot is constructed on the same principle as the popular late Victorian unspillable inkwells.

Kathleen D. Victor, ISA CAPP
Victor Appraisal Services
Redmond, WA

425-882-9003

http://groups.msn.com/victorappraisalservices