Miss Jongerius, through master porcelain maker Nymphenburg, has explored the boundaries of the Baroque Rococo with this teapot called Four Seasons. The work has what I consider to be the characteristic marks of Rococo: The piece is stark white, The figures of the teapot are crusty and ornate, and the overall form of the piece is dynamic and maybe over-dramatic. Something that sets this piece apart from the Baroque and into a contemporary whimsy, at least to me, is the teapot’s cloth corset. The corset works on so many levels. The piece of teapot clothing obviously functions to cover the otherwise nude figurine (a necessity in the extremely prude American market), but also the corset keeps the tea warm. And the form of the teapot itself lends a perfect hourglass sensuousness to the form of the corset.