If people were to go by accounts of Chou Kao-ch'i who was the author of the Yang Hsien ming hu hsi, an historical account that dealt with Ishing teapots, it was teapots such as these that were the creations of the potters at Ishing that were later made very popular to Europeans and were known to them by the Portuguese term, bocarro, which essentially means largemouth.

These pots were smaller in size and came to Europe accompanied with tea to later become the models after which the European teapots were initially fashioned. Nevertheless, this point of view has been disputed and these pots in Europe might have been ascribed to either the Chinese wine vessels or to the Islamic coffee pots that were originally imported as items of curiosity.

Spanning the Globe

In any event, there's no denying the reality that tea was originally Chinese, even though teapots as we have known them nowadays are European. To start with, European teapots were heavy cast and were short, straight and had spouts that were replaceable that were unlike Chinese teapots. This was later followed by importations on a large scale of teapots through the East India Company, which realizing the demand was increasing, imported them. They also added extra ballast for ships on which they were being transported.

With the advent of industrialization, the increasing middle class and had excess cash and may wish to duplicate the lifestyles of the upper classes and that's also included the afternoon tea ritual, which was very common among the more financially fortunate parts of society. The market for these teapots thus, grew through well-known artist merchants such as Joshua Spode and Joshua Wedgwood started to cater to the increased demand.

Fascinating Designs

The teapots design cater to every style and taste and it included every major trend in Victorian craft styles which includes the Renaissance, Chinese, Gothic, Japanese, Moorish, and Art Nouveau.

The design of contemporary style teapots made a return to a more basic form and throughout the 1960s became increasingly functional, to portray the modernism that was permeating throughout society and during the next 10 years, novelty teapots made a a surprising reappearance.

With the passage of time there have consistently been changes to the design of teapots. At times they will tend to be elegant and refined and many of these teapots are a reflection of the classic patterns of the 18th and 19th centuries.

There are quite a few common types of styles of teapots and peace include the classic Brown Betty, Japanese Tetsubin, Porcelain and Silver Teapots as well as Clear Glass Teapots and Chinese Yixing Teapots. Each of these has their own unique style and are very well-liked among numerous sections of society.