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The symbol of a mother’s love in a teapot
The teapot is more than just a place to store water or tea.
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Uniquely crafted: A collection of Chinese teapots integrate the imagery of Gods and folklore in their designs. (JP/Agus Dermawan T)
T
he teapot is more than just a place to store water or tea, as throughout the world’s history, different cultures have used it as a symbol of a mother’s love.
In the early 1990s, I met with the late Spanish painter Antonio Blanco (1912-1999).
At his artistic studio on Campuan Hill, Bali –– now a museum –– an easel was supporting a painting with the image of a teko (teapot). The wooden picture frames that Blanco designed were even occasionally adorned with teapot carvings.
Blanco said he loved the teapot because it was the symbol of a true mother. The teapot functions as a permanent repository of water and is always ready to pour the liquid of life to those in need just like a mother would to her child.
“The teapot is the mother who is standing by to give at all times,” Blanco said.
It turns out that Blanco’s philosophy dates back to the heyday of Kediri and Majapahit in the13th century.
