Tesi Johnson, Gleaner Writer
At Left: Her Excellency the Most Hon. Mrs. Hall (left), wife of Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Honourable Kenneth Hall, shares warm greetings with artist/florist extraordinaire Marigold Harding at the Cancer Society of Jamaica's High Tea and Celebrity Tea Pot Art Auction, at The Ruins, Mona Visitors' Lodge, UWI, last Sunday. At Right: Out for an afternoon of fun at the celebrity teapot and art auction, are from left: Educator Bernice Moore, songbird Judy Emmanuel and attorney Andrea Moore. - WINSTON SILL/FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER
LOCAL PERSONALITIES decorated and affixed their signatures to several one-of-a-kind teapots that were auctioned, along with several donated pieces of art, at Jamaica's first-ever 'Celebrity Teapot and Art Auction.'
It was held at the UWI Mona Visitors' Lodge on Sunday. First Global Bank, the Jamaica Cancer Society and the Pauline Brown Fund Committee staged the imaginative benefit to fund their efforts to provide financial aid for cancer survivors.
Among the 'celebrities' who decorated the teapots were the Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, international dancehall artistes 'Sean Paul' Henriques and Orville 'Shaggy' Burrel, the Most Hon. Sir Howard Cooke and Lady Cooke, Douglas Orane, Earl Jarret, The Most. Hon. Edward Seaga, Nancy McLean, radio personalities Alan Magnus and Dorraine Samuels, Security Minister Dr. Peter Phillips, Commissioner Lucius Thomas and businessman Kenny Benjamin, among others.
Before the auction got under way, guests enjoyed the wares in the booths scattered across the periphery of the lawn. Most popular was the Haagen Dazs ice-cream stand where guests could cool down from the afternoon heat with a scoop of Bailey's ice cream or mango sorbet.
Soon enough guests were ushered inside where they would have the opportunity to take home a piece of their favourite local celebrity or artist. The art pieces were put up first, and Heather Sutherland-Wade's 'On the River' which started at a reserve price of $25,000 closed at a whopping $42,000, the highest price paid for any single item at the auction.
Master of Ceremonies Derrick Jones carefully selected his words as he spoke of buying a person's teapot. Some guests understood the innuendo behind 'buying teapots', while others didn't; but as they say, "unto the pure, all things are pure." Jones advised the guests to get a teapot for themselves as they are bound to appreciate in value, and jokingly added that it might even be used as collateral for a loan some day.
When the Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller's teapot was up for bidding, Jones announced in jest that the pot is a hot commodity, as she will not have time to sign pots after being sworn into office. Following that comment, her pink teapot painted with yellow flowers, earned the highest bid among the pots, going for an impressive $26,000. International dancehall artiste Shaggy's fetched the next highest bid for his teapot, as two ladies engaged in an all-out bidding war, which climaxed at $17,000 for the right to take home a little piece of 'Mr. Lover Lover' himself. The teapot of outgoing Prime Minister the Most Hon. P. J. Patterson also went for $14,500, and Sean Paul's for $10,500.
Among the guests were Her Excellency the Most Hon. Mrs. Hall; daughters of the late Pauline Brown, Gail Kamicka and Michelle Gordon-Somers; Marcia Erskine; Cedric McDonald; Gurney Beckford, one of the local celebrities who decorated a pot; Sandra Shirley, who also decorated a teapot; Danville Walker; Michelle Wilson-Reynolds; Tanya Shirley; Andrea Moore; Marigold Harding, who had donated an acrylic painting called 'Christmas' to the auction; and Earl Jarret, who also lent his artistic skills to decorating a teapot.
