We're potty about tea!

It's #NationalTeaDay and to mark this day of tea, we have put together a list of some of the many interesting teapots in the collections we care for. So choose your fanciest teapot or favourite mug, pour yourself a cuppa and take a look...

The double spout

Perhaps the most structurally bizarre of the teapots in the collection, this double- spouted teapot could be used for pouring two cups at once, saving time for dunking!

Teapot, earthenware, double-spouted, with relief-molded feather and floral motifs, full Rockingham-type streaky brown glaze, not marked, Staffordshire, c.1870-1900. A perhaps deliberately comic effect is produced when the teapot is turned upside-down, turning the two spouts into a pair of legs.

Home brew

These three teapots all use the crest of Hampshire towns as the main design. The crests of Botley, Aldershot and Eastleigh can be seen on a mostly white backdrop.

L - R: Teapot, white earthenware, from a tea service for two in the collection, drum shape, printed and enamelled with the crest of Botley, Hampshire, not marked, Staffordshire, c.1920-1935. Teapot, hard paste porcelain, oval shape, with shell molding to rim and foot, rococo handle, crest of the town of Aldershot, Hampshire, enameled over transfer print, not marked, made in one of the European countries formerly constituting Bohemia, c.1890. Teapot, hard paste porcelain, pear shape, transfer-printed rose border around rim and printed and enameled arms of Eastleigh in Hampshire, not marked, made in one of the European countries formerly constituting Bohemia, c.1890.

Feeling blue?

This is perhaps the most easily recognised ceramic style - Jasperware, a type of pottery created by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1770s. The Wedgwood company was founded in 1759 in Stoke-on-Trent. This teapot dates to the latter part of the 19th century and uses a darker shade of 'Wedgwood blue'.

Teapot, jasper ware, dark blue, low round shape, decorated with classical figures bringing offerings to a flaming altar, impressed WEDGWOOD on base, made by Wedgwood, Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, c.1880-90.

Take a break

What is the best accompaniment to a cuppa? It's got to be a biscuit, surely?

Teapot, earthenware, globular shape, red slip with decal printed advertisement for KitKat chocolate-covered biscuit bar, a promotional offer, impressed factory mark on base, made by Arthur Wood, Bradwell Works, Longport, Staffordshire, 1981.

What's your favourite tea?

This Tetley teapot from the late 20th century, features the brand's famous 'Tea-folk' characters, used in the advertising of the brand from 1973 to 2001 and from 2010 to 2016.

Tableware, teapot, white earthenware with solid blue glaze, to advertise Tetley's Tea, decorated with Tetley's Tea-Folk characters, made by Wade Potteries, Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, c.1985-1990.

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