Made to Mend
Brown teapot, mended lid
The lid broke in 1953 and was riveted on a Saturday.
- Made by
- Unknown pottery, Staffordshire
- Date
- About 1935
- Material
- Glazed earthenware, brass rivet
- Size
- 17 cm tall
- Cost new
- Tenpence
- Came from
- Dorothy Merrin’s house, 2009
On view Made to Mend, in the long case. Top floor, until 1 March 2027.
A brown teapot is the most ordinary thing in the collection, which is why it is in the exhibition. The lid cracked in two in 1953. Joseph Merrin, then sixteen, drilled both halves in the works and joined them with a brass rivet meant for a knife handle.
The glue came later, and it was not his. Somebody in the 1970s did not trust the rivet, so the lid has now been mended twice by two generations who never discussed it.
More from Made to Mend.
Dinner plate, riveted
Unknown pottery, Staffordshire, about 1900Made to Mend, in the long caseCost new: threepence; the mend, a penny
Cobbler’s last
Unknown foundry, about 1910Made to Mend, beside the bootsCost new: two shillings
Sewing tin
The family, 1920s onwardsMade to Mend, at the end of the caseCost new: a biscuit tin, reused
Where to see it
Made to Mend, top floor.
You’ll find it in the long case. Made to Mend is on the top floor; the lift is by the front desk.
Open Wednesday to Sunday, 10:00 to 17:00, and until 20:00 on Thursdays.