The Teapot – A ‘Potted’ History

1
The Teapot A Potted History
2

• Tea has been sipped, slurped and sunk from cups,
  mugs and beakers for as long as any of us can
  remember, but have you ever stopped to think
  about the vessel for brewing the tea the humble
  teapot? Who was the first to come up with a
  design for a teapot, and when were they first
  used?

3

• We all know what a teapot looks like, but who was
  the first to create and design them?
• Most theories centre around the teapot having
  acquired its original design from the clay
  kettles and wine jugs found in China when tea
  was first shipped to Europe in the 17th century
  but there are those who also hold the belief that
  their design was inspired by coffee pots found in
  Islamic countries.

4

• Either way, we cant be completely sure of the
  origin of the teapot, but we do know that tea was
  a costly commodity back in those days, and so
  what teapots did exist, tended to be made of
  highly prized materials such as silver, and were
  not at all common.
• The earliest teapots look tiny compared to modern
  westernized pots, but this is because they were
  designed for the single Chinese drinker and the
  tea was usually drunk directly from the spout.

5

• The teapot as we know it today, however, has its
  design roots in Europe. These were heavy and
  cumbersome items at first, with short spouts that
  broke easily, so a new design was quickly sought
  at the beginning of the 18th century. The East
  India Company (a British joint-stock trading
  company who conducted their business mainly with
  the Indian subcontinent) arranged for artists
  from China to recreate teapots from their
  companys designs, and as the porcelain from
  China was far stronger, long lasting and could
  survive sea water, the company arranged for the
  pots to sail as cargo on their ships that were
  being used to transport tea (the tea was up top,
  in the dry, and the pots were down in the hold).

6

• After the Chinese and the East India Company, who
  were the next to design a teapot?
• In 1708, a method of making porcelain was
  discovered in Dresden, Germany, and the Meissen
  factory set up a business shortly after, in 1710,
  making teapots inspired by Chinese designs.

7

• William Cookworthy, an English Quaker minister,
  pharmacist and technological innovator in the
  1800s, found a way to make porcelain that was
  almost identical to the Chinese version, and in a
  coastal town in the UK, he founded a works. At
  his point in history, tea was not the most
  popular drink in the UK, instead it was ale, but
  as a result of poor harvests and tax cuts, tea
  was generally favored over ale and teapots needed
  to be made bigger to meet the demand.

8

• When were Chinese porcelain pots no longer
  imported?
• As a result of the industrial revolution, the
  making and selling of pottery became big business
  and in 1791, the East India Company finally
  halted its imports of porcelain from China.

9

• When bone china was invented in the 19th century,
  it was found to be strong and durable, and it
  quickly became the material of favor for making
  teapots to quench the thirst of the worlds new
  tea drinkers.
• How has the teapot changed over the years?
• It can safely be said that the rudimentary design
  of the teapot has changed little in 300 years,
  and presumably based upon the premise that if it
  something isnt broken, you dont need to fix it.

10

• The Teapot Shoppe is the industry leader and
  trendsetter when it comes to teapots and tea
  ware, and our current line of products is no
  exception. You will love the childrens tea sets,
  english tea pots, cast iron tea pots, ceramic
  teapots and porcelain teapot sets. Visit our
  website to check our full range of tea sets.