Description
This stoneware salt-glazed teapot is diamond-shaped and molded in panels. The panels are relief decorated with a Greek key pattern defining the square border and the shell motif in the center.
The cover finial is formed like a lion of Fo, and the handle is shaped as a serpent.
The pot’s diminutive scale illustrates the expense of tea, a luxury commodity in the early 18th century.
The Potteries Museum and Art Gallery in Stoke upon Trent, Staffordshire, England, houses a master mold for this teapot.