The Mad Tea Party

Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There was published 150 years ago as a sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. These fantastical stories by Lewis Carroll have inspired a pop-up exhibit within the Art of Tea at WMODA. Follow Alice down the rabbit hole and through the looking glass to meet some of the curious characters of Wonderland as seen through the eyes of famous pottery and porcelain artists.

In the 19th century, the Jabberwock monster inspired Doulton’s Mark V. Marshall and Victorian tile artist, William de Morgan, was enthralled by the Dodo. Lewis Carroll reputedly introduced the extinct flightless bird into his story as a caricature of himself. The Ardmore Ceramic Art studio in South Africa made a Dodo teapot which would enhance any Mad Hatter’s tea party.

It Is always 6 o’clock in Wonderland at the Hatter’s endless tea party with the March Hare who is equally mad. Novel and ingenious teapots are a feature of the Art of Tea exhibition and some of the craziest designs have been loaned to the Mad Tea Party exhibit by Dr. Unjeria Jackson, author of Teapots by Design. There are also tiny teapots, less than an inch tall, created by master potter Alex Meiklejohn and a miniature tea party presented by dollhouse designer Judith Rudin.

Alice experiences extreme size distortions in Wonderland caused by a Drink Me potion and an Eat Me cake She also nibbles on a magic mushroom which makes her the right size to enter the magic garden where she meets the Queen of Hearts from a pack of playing cards. This formidable monarch orders executions at the slightest offense, shrieking “Off with their heads”. The playing card motifs inspired designs by the Moorcroft Pottery as well as the British porcelain artist David Burnham Smith. The Royal Doulton group portrayed many Wonderland characters in their popular collections of figures and character jugs.