The Cube Teapot and Cunard

Cunard utilitarian ware owes its existence to the inventor of the Patent Cube Teapot, the entrepreneur Robert Crawford Johnson. Johnson’s aim was to fashion a teapot that would meet strict criteria that were missing from the more conventional teapots of the time. These teapots suffered from storage and cleaning problems and their spouts were prone to damage. Registered in 1917, the Cube Teapot wasn’t put into production until 1920 by Arthur Wood & Son Limited of Stoke-on-Trent who specialised in earthenware. The atypical design must have been a talking point of the Deco era with the total rethinking of a product that had remained essentially constant for centuries.

The teapot’s spout was placed in a top corner of the cube with a recessed handle let into the vertical of the opposing corner. Maintenance of this simple shape was easy and in 1926 this attribute was rewarded with a ‘Certificate of the Institute of Hygeine’ and a gold award at the ‘Nation’s Health Exhibition’. Cube Teapots Co. Limited was formed by Johnson as a response to competitor potteries adapting his design and a distribution and marketing strategy was formulated in 1925 fronted by a dynamic display in the Leicester showrooms of the ‘perfect cuppa’ being poured from the Cube Teapot by an eager lady.

The advertising campaign’s success persuaded other potteries to manufacture under licence including the prestigious factory of Wedgwood, Myott Son & Co. and T.G. Green & Co. Limited. A silver plate variety was also made by T. Wilkinson & Sons. Other utilitarian ware in the range was designed including a deeper tea pot, a sugar pot, milk jug and creamer ed to compliment the Cube Teapot and the Grimwades pottery produced the Cube palette and matching cup.

There were no decorating restrictions with varying patterns being applied across different manufacturers. A plain white version was produced by Myott with tasteful thin gilt decorative banding , which worked well applied to the pure white glaze of the high quality Cunard shipping line earthenware. Other manufacturers involved in the Cube production were Clews stoneware of Tunstall who made a white glazed version for use aboard the Queen Mary and an oatmeal variety circa 1936 which is marked on the base ‘Cunard White Star’; Brain’s Foley China which produced wares for both the Queen Mary and also the Queen Elizabeth; and a plain design produced by Grimwades. Ornate souvenir wares were manufactured for sale depicting an oriental inspired scene and chintz style pattern. Such pieces are typically marked ‘Souvenir’ on the base including an example produced by Tuscan China, furnished by Stoniers displaying the base pattern name of ‘Bird of Paradise’.

Popular tearooms, cafes and restaurants of the time adopted the use of Cube wares. Myott for example, it seems, only produced for the Cunard Shipping Line, as surviving examples display a gold ‘Myott Cunard’ mark to the base, displaying the word ‘Cunard’ over a stylised crown and ‘Staffordshire England’ beneath in two lines.

From a practical aspect the cube shape lent to stability in rough seas probably a consideration of the shipping line’ s commission from the potteries. Premium space on board would also have been optimised by the cube’s unique stacking qualities also exemplified by its use in picnic hampers of the Twenties and Thirties - a popular pursuit of the period

Modernist tastes and style welcomed the advent of the Cube especially on board the sumptuous trans-Atlantic liners which in themselves were an icon of the Art Deco age. Mass production and advances in industry meant Cubeware could be produced cheaply and still display that certain design quality consumers were eager for. Nothing could be more chic or befitting on the breakfast tables of the Queen Mary. Other shipping lines of lesser standing also adopted the wares designed by the forward-thinking Robert Crawford Johnson.

Formed in 1838, the original company of Cunard was known as the North American Royal Mail Steam Packet Company and founded by Samuel Cunard, the Canadian shipping magnate, partnered by businessman James Donaldson, engineer Robert Napier George Burns and David MacIver. A contract was won by the Brittannia (the original ship of the line) to link Britain and America by a trans-Atlantic shipping route running between Boston and Liverpool. Other companies such as the White Star line (owner of ill-fated RMS Titanic and another major shipping line) and Canadian Northern Steamships Ltd. were taken over subsequently by Cunard. The aspects of reliability and safety were Cunard’s main concern over mere speed and capacity. Unsurprisingly , the comfort and luxury of these ‘floating palaces’ went a long way towards making the Cunard company the foremost passenger line the world had seen. RMS Majestic, RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth II (the QEII) were some of the lie’s main ships, each becoming a household name in their own right.

On Scotland’s River Clyde in 1930 work began on the Queen Mary and was completed in 1934. The world of travel was changed forever on the vessel’s maiden voyage in 1936. The public had seen nothing of the like before than the auspicious liner named after King George V’s Queen consort, Queen Mary of Teck who was known affectionately as ‘Queen May’ and officially ‘Victoria Mary’ until the 1910 coronation of her husband. Mary was the first of four children born to Francis, Duke of Teck and Princess Mary Adelaide of Cambridge. As well as being a first cousin once removed to Queen Victoria she was also the great-granddaughter of George III.

With a length of 1,020 feet (311 metres) and a displacement of an incredible 81,000 tons, the Queen Mary steamship was the second biggest liner ever built. Together with the largest ship of all time, the RMS Queen Elizabeth, they domineered the trans-Atlantic passenger route until 1967 when the Queen Mary was retired from service and a year later the Queen Elizabeth. Now the Queen Mary is docked at Long Beach, California functioning as a museum and hotel in an area perhaps fittingly known for its Art Deco architecture.

Cubeware remained popular up until the early Fifties when a variety of other modern designs arrived on the scene. It can be said though that many believe the Cube Teapot the most successful patent teapot design ever.

Also refer to ‘The Cube Teapot’ a book written by Paul Atterbury & Anne Anderson.
Publisher: Antiques Collectors Club (ISBN: 0903685760)