Tula Tea Room Lithophane
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This exquisitely detailed porcelain night light depicts a scene familiar to visitors of the Museum: the Tula Tea Room's coal-fired samovar, gold and white tea pot, signature cookies, and glasses of hot Georgian tea. It was designed and produced exclusively for the Museum of Jurassic Technology.
Hand made in Irvine, CA using techniques from a lost art of the 1800’s called “Lithophanes.” Light shining through the varied thicknesses of thin porcelain causes an image to appear in the lit porcelain. Crafted by first carving the image in wax while illuminated from behind, then making a plaster mold of the carving, and finally casting it in fine porcelain and firing it at a high temperature for 12 hours to give the porcelain its translucency.