Usage of Teapots

Most people use teapot to make tea and yes I do...  However, when I first felt in love with teapots, I like their shapes...  

Bamboo Basket

I like this bamboo basket teapot very much... The workmanship is very fine. My friend bought this from China in the late 80's.

Luggage and Umbrella

This little teapot was also a gift from our friend.  My husband started a company in Toronto selling handbags, luggage, and umbrella...:)

       

Three Little Pigs (福禄壽)

Fish

I bought these three piggy teapots in the year of Pig in Taipei...  The three pigs represent Fortune (福), Wealth (祿), and Longevity (壽)...

I cannot remember where I bought the fish, might also be in Taipei as well.  

We've never used these teapots.  They are great decorative items in my home for years...

My First Teapot

I love to drink tea...  I fell in love with tea just because I fell in love with teapot...

During the early 80's, we started to travel to the Mainland China...  In one of those trips, I bought my first Chinese teapot...

The first teapot I bought in China

Its other side

I bought this teapot not for drinking tea...  I bought this just because of its design.  It has dragons flying around the cloud on the pot, one on each side and one on the lid.  The one on the lid is movable.  The tongue will stick out when you pour the tea out from the pot...  It was so cute...

Not until twenty plus years later when I worked in Beijing that I've found out the origin of this teapot...

The real one was done by Shao Daheng (邵大亨) in Qing dynasty.  The theme is not just the dragons...  Its the design of a fish transforming into dragon holding a pearl in the mouth and is characterized by a lively resonance, with a movable dragon's head on the lid and the handle with the dragon's tail...

Shao Daheng (邵大亨) was a famous potter and his work is known for innovative type-forms and refined craftsmanship.  Unfortunately, Shao Daheng seldom made teapots and his extant works are very rare. The teapot in the shape of a fish transforming into a dragon is one of his master-pieces and this teapot is the only one with this distinctive form known to be made by him.

Teapot in the shape of a fish transforming into a dragon by Shao Daheng