[David Park Curry] You can see that this is a two-sided teapot. There's a very fey man and there's a very masculine woman, so this is playing with gender. The big calla lily that the woman is wearing was a dangerous symbol. [Aaron Henkin] Dangerous because it was, and often still is a symbol of overt sexuality. [David Park Curry] The sunflower that the man is wearing was a major symbol of the Aesthetic Movement symbolizing renewal and enlightenment. It is directly derived from an important Gilbert and Sullivan musical called Patience, which satirizes the Aesthetic Movement. [Aaron Henkin] Followers of the Aesthetic Movement of the late 19th century were devoted to the pursuit of art and beauty in one's life and in one's home. This pot was based on a touring production of the popular musical. [David Park Curry] The head set at that impossible angle, which is rather coy, removes. It's just like a plug underneath and pulls right out. The floppy hand is the spout.

[Aaron Henkin] The production of Patience that this pot commemorates toured throughout the US. Oscar Wilde, the notorious British aesthetic writer, was sent around the country to publicize it. [David Park Curry] The inscription says, Fearful consequences through the laws of natural selection and evolution of living up to one's teapot. That's a pun on Oscar Wilde saying, I'm going to live up to my blue and white china, which meant he was going to, of course, be aesthetic at all costs. But at the same time, you hear echoes of the disturbing theories of Darwin that were published at about this time. [Aaron Henkin] So depending on who owned this teapot, it could either be a satire of the Aesthetic Movement and all that it stood for, or it could be a way of proudly proclaiming your allegiance to it.