Tee essence pot | MBEK 24

The MBEK 24 was created at the Bauhaus in Weimar during a period in which the metal workshop was searching for a new, contemporary formal language. Marianne Brandt translated this idea into an object of extraordinary concentration. The pot was not intended as a conventional teapot, but for preparing a concentrated tea extract that could then be diluted with hot water. From this specific function, Brandt developed a form that still appears radically modern today.

The hemispherical body, the asymmetrically positioned lid, the precise spout and the cross-shaped foot make the tea extract pot one of the most famous designs of the Bauhaus metal workshop. Every detail follows a constructive logic. Nothing is added as decoration, and yet the object possesses an almost sculptural presence.

For a long time, only eight historic examples were known worldwide. They are held in important international collections, including the Bauhaus-Archiv Berlin, the Germanisches Nationalmuseum in Nuremberg, the Bauhaus Museum Weimar, the Bauhaus Dessau Foundation, the British Museum in London, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Neue Galerie New York and the Kamm Teapot Foundation. In 2024, another example from Marianne Brandt’s private circle came up for auction. It was acquired by the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe Hamburg; including taxes and fees, the tea extract pot reached a price of 340,000 euros.

Alongside the Wagenfeld lamp, the tea extract pot is one of the few design icons that stand for the Bauhaus like almost no other object. It brings together use, material, geometry and attitude in a form that does not appear historical, but has remained strikingly contemporary.

TECNOLUMEN is the only company in the world to produce this tea extract pot by Marianne Brandt by hand according to her original specifications. The production follows the Bauhaus idea not as a mere reproduction, but as a precise continuation: with meticulous craftsmanship, high-quality materials and respect for the characteristic proportions of the design. In addition to the version in silver-plated brass with black-stained wood, the tea extract pot is also available on request in 925 sterling silver – a particularly precious version of this exceptional Bauhaus object.

In this way, the MBEK 24 remains not only a collector’s item, but also a piece of applied design history. It shows how enduring a form can be when it emerges from function, material and design consistency.