Elizabeth Craven and Her Sex Scandals


Whatever sort of teapot you have, you probably haven't got one like this. It is remarkable, indeed unique, and was sold by auction at Bonhams in London for £18,000 in 2009, as a curiosity.

It is a comical and indecent depiction of Elizabeth Craven, the writer, which conveys unmistakably that people had got the impression she was a very sexy lady. 


The wording on the sash "Lady Craveing's Teapot" is a lewd pun and it adds a quotation from a prologue Elizabeth Craven wrote for a play "The Sleep Walker", which she translated in 1778.

Another wipes his brow in mighty fuss
And like a teapot stands, exactly - thus!

Elizabeth herself had performed the prologue, dressed in man's clothes and adopted the attitude of a tea-pot, standing with one arm extended and the other hand on her hip. 
As for the teapot association, she was rather fond of giving tea-parties, then a novelty, at her little hideaway Craven Cottage on the Thames, which has long disappeared but gave its name to the football ground now on the site. There were many rumours that these tea-parties were not altogether innocent gatherings.

 Bonham's could provide no exact date for the teapot. it may have been made as early as 1783, when The Rambler's Magazine published some very scurrilous gossip about Lady Craven, referring to her as "Lady Teapot". 

 "Lady Teapot, having lost her last favourite spout, which was rivetted on but slightly, has been for some weeks in search of another spout, that will fit her to a nicety." [Rambler's Magazine July 1783].

An engraving from the same period, slightly later, now in the British Library, shows a very similar image.


The phallic spout is unmistakeable. It may be based on the china teapot, which is reputed to have belonged to the Prince Regent, or it may have been a design for it.
If you would like to know more about Elizabeth Craven, her writings and the affairs that got her this rather colourful reputation, read:
 by Julia Gasper


Hardback | Price: $65 / €62 / £55 1st edition | Published on: June 2017 334pp |  236mmx160mm 
11 b&w illus.
Series: Vernon Series on the History of Art
Subject(s): Feminism, Literary analysis, Biography ISBN: 9781622732753

Availability: In stock 






23 Jun 2017 - Elizabeth Craven's fascinating life was full of travel, love-affairs and scandals but this biography, the first to appear for a century, is the only one ...


 https://vernonpress.com/title?id=334

'Lady Craveing's Teapot', a very important English porcelain teapot
Circa 1779-1783.
Possibly Derby or Chelsea-Derby, finely modelled in the form of Lady Elizabeth Craven, her head forming the cover, dressed in an officer's uniform wearing a sword and Garter star and a sash inscribed in gold with a quotation from the prologue to The Sleep Walker 'performed at Newbury Written by Lady C', borders of stiff leaves in turquoise and gold around the base beneath neat, formal bands, 16.5cm high (restoration to cracks and breaks in cover, body and base) (2)

https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/16903/lot/146/
Lot 146
'LADY CRAVEING'S TEAPOT', A VERY IMPORTANT ENGLISH PORCELAIN TEAPOT
Circa 1779-1783.
Sold for £22,800 inc. premium

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