Teapot

ohn-Philip and David Elers were Dutch silversmiths of German extraction who came to England in the late 1680s. By 1693 they had established a pottery at Bradwell Hall in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, where they began applying metalworking techniques to their manufacturing process. The brothers' methods of pottery production and their refining of the raw materials were revolutionary in England. They were particularly admired for their teapots which, in material, form, and decoration, closely resembled Chinese Yixing tea wares which were popular in Europe at that time. This teapot decorated with applied prunus sprigs is the Museum's first example of the work of the innovative Elers brothers.