Teapots

Drinking tea is an essential part of Asian culture designed to be a break in the day.  A time to relax and sip a hot cup of tea.  Around the custom of drinking tea there developed a series of both formal and informal practices. From the steeping of the tea to the serving of the tea an industry emerged to design bowls, cups and utensils. As tea expanded to Europe pottery companies designed not only cups but accompanying pots  from which the tea was poured. Tea sets become essential to every household from the working class to the upper class.  In Britain designated times were set aside to have ‘afternoon tea’ or ‘high tea’.

Tea pots even became an art form going from the practical to the whimsical to the macabre. Collectors of tea pots demanded a variety of designs not imagined when the first whisking bowl held the precious hot liquid. Though mostly Chinese these pots represent a portion of the evolution of the tea pot itself. Enjoy!