Oriental Tea Pots 

Henry Farrer created this watercolor painting, titled "Oriental Tea Pots," sometime between 1844 and 1903. The translucent nature of watercolor allows Farrer to mimic the smooth, reflective surfaces of the tea pots, especially the dark brown glaze of the smaller pot. The artist’s mastery of the medium, using delicate washes and precise details, reflects the period's fascination with Asian aesthetics and material culture. Tea drinking, long established in Asia, gained popularity in the West during the 18th and 19th centuries, accompanied by rituals and specialized objects. This painting suggests the rise of consumer culture, where the exotic is aestheticized and made available for private consumption, and the skilled labor involved in crafting these objects is commodified. By focusing on these mass-produced objects, Farrer blurs the lines between still life and design, encouraging us to consider the cultural and economic forces that shape our everyday encounters with material things.