Few, if any, common household objects have lent themselves to the creative imagination as much as the teapot.
It is a form that brews a seemingly unlimited amount of imagination as a vehicle for artistic expression. The teapot also steams up collectors’ passions. You seldom find a collector with one or two pots — more commonly, collections range in the hundreds and even the thousands.
There are only 44 teapots in the 15th Annual Teapot Show to be held at the Chiaroscuro gallery, 700 N. Michigan Ave., but they are bound to heat up the desire to own in those who view them.
Each is unique, ranging in styles from figurative to funky, from funny to functional.
This year there are several teapots in the shape of people, including one in the image of a pearl-necklaced Marie Antoinette.
Animals are represented, as well. There is a rotund gray rat (tea pours from his snout) by Arlynn Abseck of New York City.
Most of the teapots are ceramic. Only one is in metal-cast silver. Some are tiny, others large, says Joan Houlehan of A. Houberbocken Inc. Houlehan founded the show in 1989 and has organized it every year since. The teapots will be priced from $125 to $4,200 (for the silver teapot shown above).
The show runs April 4 to May 16. Hours: 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 312-988-9253.
