Saenger Porcelain
Saenger Porcelain, Newark, Delaware, 20th century
black teapot and tray with four nesting cups, 1990
a.k.a. Captain Picard’s Tea Set
slipcast porcelain, glazed
teapot (48 oz.) H: 7” tray L: 10.5” W: 9” cup H: 3.25”
The Dinnerware Museum, Gift of Margaret Carney and Bill Walker, 2014.206
Artist Peter Saenger, with his studio in Newark, Delaware, has been creating this design, available in either black or white since at least 1990, when this particular 7-piece set was purchased in a gallery in Portland, Oregon. The Saenger Porcelain website titles the current available work of this type as Design II Set, also known as “Captain Picard’s Tea Set,” as it was featured on Star Trek, The Next Generation.
On his website, the artist notes, “I am a puzzler; puzzles have a power over me. I am intrigued to discover the solutions. It is like meeting someone new and getting to know them piece by piece. Designing objects and creating innovative processes is solving intricate puzzles.” (http://www.saengerporcelain.com/about/) It’s interesting that his website notes that 100% of the energy for the kilns and studio is renewable nonpolluting wind power.