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teapot/history

updated thu 27 may 99

 

FallisT@aol.com on thu 20 may 99

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In =22An Anthology of British Teapots=22 by Philip Miller =26 Michael =
Berthoud,
published in 1985 by Micawber Publications (England) the =22Quick Reference
Guide=22 begins with this paragraph.
=22The teapot as a vessel specifically designed for the brewing of the =
beverage
was unknown in the orient where tea was individually brewed in tea bowls.
The exact origin of the teapot is unknown but it probably derives from the
vessels used in the east for serving of wine.
=85The earliest recorded British teapot, a silver example presented to the =
East
India Company in 1670, resembles a tall lighthouse shape now associated with
coffee. Later English silver pots of the 1680s are, however, clearly
influenced by Chinese porcelain shapes.=22

Anne Fallis-Elliott
434 Greenwich St
NYC 10013
FallisT=40aol.com

Suzana Lisanti on wed 26 may 99

>The exact origin of the teapot is unknown but it probably derives from
>the vessels used in the east for serving of wine.

Anne's quotation reminded me of a proto-teapot from around 2000 BC included
in the book "Minoan and Mycenaean Art." It is stunningly like our modern
teapot.

You can see it at http://web.mit.edu/lisanti/clayart/teapot.html

-Suzana Lisanti
in Cambridge, MA