Ten shapes, painted by hand

Pexriona makes novelty teapots and nothing else. Ten shapes, three sizes, no seasonal range and no numbered editions. If a shape sells we make more of it; if it stops selling we say so.

A ceramic painter's bench from above with three unglazed bisque teapot bodies, pots of navy, cream, gold and red paint, brushes on a rest and a painted test tile
Three bodies out of the bisque firing, waiting for the slowest part of the process.
A cream toaster teapot with its toast-slice lid lifted off and set beside it, showing the hollow glazed body inside

A pot first, a joke second

The test we apply to every shape is whether it still works as a teapot once the joke has worn off. That means a spout that pours without dribbling, a lid that sits down properly rather than rattling, and a handle you can actually hold when the pot is full.

Plenty of novelty ceramics fail that test and are sold as ornaments with a spout drawn on. Ours are glazed inside as well as out, and every capacity on this site was measured by filling the pot, not estimated from the mould.

01

Why these ten

Each shape had to be recognisable in silhouette from across a room and squarish enough to hold a useful amount of tea. That rules out most of the obvious ideas. A telephone looks right and holds nothing; a toaster looks right and holds four cups.

02

Why hand-painted

A spray booth would be quicker and the finish would be flatter and deader. Brushwork leaves the glaze pooling in the moulded corners and the toast slightly different on every pot. It is the difference between a ceramic and a moulded plastic toy.

03

Why no origin story

We are a Hong Kong company working with a ceramics supplier, and we say so. We are not an old country pottery, a family workshop or a heritage brand, and we are not going to borrow somebody else’s town to sound like one.

What we deliberately do not do

  • We do not copy another maker’s sculpts, trade dress or packaging.
  • We do not put a real confectioner’s or manufacturer’s name on a pot.
  • We do not claim the pots are made anywhere they are not.
  • We do not run a permanent sale against a price that was never charged.
  • We do not number editions or call anything a collectable.
  • We do not sell sets, because nobody wants the one they did not choose.

Where to start

If you are buying one, buy the cream toaster. It is the easiest to live with, it holds four cups, and it is the shape people reach for. If you are buying a gift for somebody whose taste you do not know, buy the blue one-cup toaster — it is the least expensive and the hardest to dislike.

If you want to know what a pot weighs, how much it holds, or whether it will survive a particular shelf, write to info@pexriona.com. It is one inbox and we answer it within a business day.