Archive for the ‘porcelain tea set’ tag
Collecting Antique Teapots – Where Did Teapots Come From?
When you hear the word tea you instantly think of a group of British sitting around at “high tea” and sipping tea poured from a delicate china pot into matching delicate china cups. Oddly enough though, tea is anything but just British.
Antique teapots, antique tea sets and specialty porcelain tea sets have entered the world long ago but remain quite collectible for both the young and the young at heart with collectors all around the world.
Tea pots are actually a Western innovation, becoming widely noticed in the 19th century. Some say it was created to mimic a small server for wine that the Chinese used, while others argue it mimics an Islamic pot used to serve coffee.
While the origins are argue, it is known that the English preferred mostly silver tea pots, which originally resembled coffee pots for many years, but later resemble what most of us know as the teapot of today’s style. Both styles of antique teapots are actually in museums in England.
More Antique Tea Pot Resources
At one point some didn’t care for the silver pots and began to use imported Chinese red stoneware to serve their tea. The pots originally were round in shape but later started coming in shapes and sizes of all types.
The novelty teapots quickly became a trend in the 19th century as Minton introduced some intriguing teapots but not to be outdone by artistic flairs of many others, including Sadlers, the company of artist James Sadler, Beswick & Price’s, and Cardew to name a few. The creators, artists, companies, and individual exclusive pieces are all sought after for various reasons.
Today teapot collecting is quite an extensive and exclusive pastime for many. There are everything from part-time collectors to full fledged collectors who make a living finding, buying, trading, and selling these varied vessels.
Like any collection, beauty is in the eye of the beholder so what one might find to be “wonderful” another may find quite plain and unappealing. One thing is for sure, the more unique, the original creator, the less worn, the material used, and sometimes when it was created, some teapots can cost upwards of $50k. One Yixing brand teapot from China, created in 1995 sold for $75k.
Some collectors collect based upon brand name/creators only. Yixing is one of the most highly sought after teapots. However people from every walk of life can and have loved their teapot collection.
Simple designs to cute characters and copycats of original rare pots, all call to both the individual collector and the business collector. Magazines, Collectors’ books, calendars and hundreds of online pages dedicated to these varied and beautiful vessels we call Teapots.
Collectors should collect them for their love of the teapot and not just the value of an antique teapot or resale price on a tea set. Once you realize the fun and excitement in finding something that makes you smile, without the concern of the resale value, you will become a true teapot collector.
