I have been shooting teapots for a celebrated local Philadelphia teapot maker for a few years. From the very first shoot, I realized that her elegant and simple teapots needed a equally simple, and restrained still life treatment. We initially tried a more cluttered natural setting and then settled on a pastel green seamless background. For lighting, I used a single large soft box that was hung directly above the stage—this produced the soft shadows directly below the pots. Also, in the teapot reflection you can see the square shape of the soft box itself (a pleasing geometric form, versus a more distracting umbrella reflector.) The soft box also added very diffuse light and pushed the notion of a pastel drawing. This was one case where matching the photographic style to the artist's style really worked! This image eventually appeared in the NY Times.
