Raindrop Teapot

• Raindrop Teapot features many of Ikeda’s signature elements, including different kinds of surfaces achieved through a variety of glazing techniques. For example, he created the surface crackling on the teapot handle by mixing white glaze with magnesium carbonate, which contracted during the firing of the sculpture, resulting in separated sections of white color.

• This work belongs to a group of teapot sculptures by Ikeda. None of them functions as an actual teapot, being too big and too heavy for such a purpose.

• Ikeda often included a fungus-like cylindrical shape in his sculptures, as can be seen in this work. Another signature feature is a base supported by “feet” shaped like ice cream cones.