Sunday, September 16, 2012

Hall Kitchencraft: The Quest for Domestic Bliss

IF YOU ASK ME which Zeisel teapot is my favorite, I would be hard pressed to choose which one. I mean, it would be like asking a parent to choose a favorite child. Would I choose curvy Classic over stately Museum? Quirky Town and Country over rustic Western Stoneware? It would be impossible. But if you ask me which teapot I use most often, that would be easy. It is the Hall Kitchencraft teapot. We use it so much that it doesn't even make it into the display case. It's always in the cupboard ready for the next brew. And, in a way, I think that's how it was meant to be.

Hall Kitchencraft: sugar bowl, teapot, creamer

Designed in 1954 as a line of purely utilitarian items, Kitchencraft was not without its innovations. The most beautiful piece in the line, in my opinion, is the refrigerator jug. Echoing Aalto's Savoy vase in its organic form, the jug was meant to be grasped by the hand through an indentation near the neck of the cylinder—a natural action by which Zeisel seems to question the need for regular handles. Why can't a handle be more like a stick (as on the creamer and the individual teapot), or large ear-like protrusions (like those on the casserole and beanpot)?

From left to right: bean pot, cookie jar, refrigerator jug

Not surprisingly, this line had no place settings, and instead of a cup, it has a mug for sipping that afternoon tea. The most common patterns are Casual Living (brown body with abstract feathers and dots on the white lids), and Tri-tone (overlapping fields of pink, blue, and teal). The cookie jar and the bean pot in this line can also be found in white, as well as a wide variety of decorations, from Hall's classic Autumn Leaf to all sorts of hideous gold polka dots and squiggles.

Left: Tri-tone pattern; right: Casual Living pattern

Our set in the Casual Living pattern was the first Zeisel line that we "completed" (that is, we were able to collect very piece.) Even now, Kitchencraft is relatively under-appreciated and can be found easily and purchased for not a very bad price—and to be really honest, this is probably the biggest reason why we use this teapot every day. We know that if we ever broke it, we wouldn't have to take out another mortgage to buy another one.

Bottom stamp: Hall Kitchencraft