The spout of the teapot is often overlooked by shoppers, but it can be the most important part of the teapot. Styles vary and can make a big difference when pouring out that tasty tea. Time to take a closer look! For this article I am mostly avoiding teapots whose design incorporates the spout, as …
Tag: teapots
Teapots at the British Museum – Part 2
Following on from Part 1, this instalment uses two other teapots I came across in the British Museum as a starting point to reflect on the journey of tea culture across the world; the history of tea drinking is a diaspora of teapots as much as a diaspora of tea. The teapots pictured below are …
Teapots at the British Museum – Part 1
Recently, I have been spending a good bit of time at the British Museum in London. It has one of the largest and most renowned museum collections in the world, but while it may be better known for antiquities such as the Elgin Marbles and the Rosetta Stone, I have been discovering that it also …
Teapot Styles — Typically American
To say that anything is typically American, even teapot styles, is to discount about 99% of the country. (I should clarify that I am using “American” here in the widespread meaning of referring to us “Yanks,” that is, citizens of the United States. Sorry, Canada, Mexico, Central America, and South America!) We come from such …
Teapot Styles — Bone China Beauties
The popularity of tea through the ages has spurred the development of new materials, plus new techniques for working with them, to create perfect steeping and pouring teapots. Bone china is one such material — a result of experimentation and lots of sweat and ingenuity. First, let me answer that oft asked question: Yes, there …
Teapot Styles — Victorian
Teapot styles tend to parallel the styles of other objects, from buildings, to art works, to furniture and clothing. Since the era of Queen Victoria ushered in the Afternoon Tea (credited to Anna, the Duchess of Bedford, one of Queen Victoria's ladies-in-waiting), how appropriate to take a look at teapot styles from that period. Time …
Teapot Styles — Baroque & Rococo
Teapot styles tend to parallel the styles of other objects, from buildings, to art works, to furniture and clothing. Baroque and Rococo are very similar styles, and sometimes Rococo is referred to as “Late Baroque.” Both are known for their frills and embellishments, with Rococo being rather extreme. Some used the term "Baroque" initially to …
Borrowed Teawares
Like many a tea devotee, I am attached to my teawares. I have a fairly impressive collection (perhaps larger than necessary?) with certain pots for certain teas, and different cups, mugs, or infusers for different occasions. But while I enjoy my tea equipment, I know that it is entirely possible to get along without it …
Can You Ever Have Enough Teapots?
Let’s make this short: No, you can never have enough teapots. Okay, on to the next topic. Just kidding. Seriously, there are some of us out there who seem to have an insatiable desire for collecting. It could be anything: baseball cards, coins, stamps, wind-up toys, nutcracker dolls, old parts to a 1964 Chevy Corvette …
Tea Kettle Philosophy — The Perfect Teapot
Like any great quest, the seeking of perfection is all pervasive and can even invade our dreams and the quiet repose of our tea time. The perfect teapot — is it Cordoba’s mythical Fountain of Youth? Plato, a philosopher from long, long ago (as in before even I was born), had the idea that everything …
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