Utah teapot, the

   This  object is historically one of the first complex 3D models to be
   rendered  in  computer  graphics. It consisted of about 110 vertices,
   and  was  generated  by Martin Newell in 1974 using hand-drawn Bezier
   curves,  based on a real teapot that he and his wife had bought. This
   model   served   as  a  basis  for  comparing  various  3D  rendering
   methodologies  for  lighting,  textures,  bump-mapping,  etc.  By the
   standards  of  2002, the model is trivial to render and thus is often
   not  suited to demonstrate the complexity of modern research. Despite
   this, the tea pot still appears, now and then, in recent papers. More
   on  the  teapot's history lives at The History Of The Teapot. Compare
   {lenna}, {Stanford Bunny}

[glossary]
[Reference(s) to this entry by made by: {lenna}{Stanford Bunny}]