Thoughts on { The teapot | Lewis Carroll / Bram Stoker / Virginia Woolf / Charles Dickens / Nikolai Gogol / Saki / William Makepeace Thackeray
Claes Oldenburg, Tea Pot, 1975
“This piece of rudeness was more than Alice could bear: she got up in great disgust, and walked off; the Dormouse fell asleep instantly, and neither of the others took the least notice of her going, though she looked back once or twice, half hoping that they would call after her: the last time she saw them, they were trying to put the Dormouse into the teapot. At any rate I’ll never go THERE again!’ said Alice as she picked her way through the wood. “It’s the stupidest tea-party I ever was at in all my life!”
Lewis Carroll, 1832-1898
“When Mrs. Harker came in to see me this afternoon she wasn’t the same. It was like tea after the teapot has been watered.”
Bram Stoker, Dracula, 1897
“Who would not spout the family teapot in order to talk with Keats for an hour about poetry, or with Jane Austen about the art of fiction?”
Virginia Woolf, 1882-1941
“Couldn’t something temporary be done with a teapot?”
Charles Dickens, 1812-1870
“I must confess that I do not understand why things are so arranged, that women seize us by the nose as deftly as they do the handle of a teapot: either their hands are so constructed, or else our noses are good for nothing else.”
Nikolai Gogol, 1809-1852
“And in those varieties of pain of which we spoke anon, what a part of confidante has that poor teapot played ever since the kindly plant was introduced among us! What myriads of women have cried over it, to be sure! What sickbeds it has smoked by! What fevered lips have received refreshment from out of it! Nature meant very gently by women when she made that teaplant; and with a little thought what a series of pictures and groups the fancy may conjure up and assemble round the teapot and cup!”
William Makepeace Thackeray, 1811-1863
“Find yourself a cup of tea, the teapot is behind you. Now tell me about hundreds of things.”
Hector Hugh Munro [Saki ], 1870-1916
“I always take a teapot with me on tour. I suppose it’s only natural that I’ve just written a song called ‘Where Would We Be Without Tea?’ “
