Yixing Teapot Picture

Renowned for their superb tea brewing qualities, Yixing teapots offer a rustic, elegant beauty. They have been a tea staple in China for centuries, and thanks to an exploding consumer demand for high quality specialty teas on this side of the Pacific, they are enjoying a remarkable growth in popularity in North America.

Yixing teapot design ranges from traditional, perhaps copying an old, famous work, to contemporary, portraying natural themes that incorporate flowers or animals. And while many tea drinkers are attracted to these teapots solely for the way they look, their history is equally enticing. For thousands of years, the unique qualities of the clay deposits in Yixing, near Shanghai, have made the province the "Pottery Capital" of China. In fact, it was here during the Ming Dynasty that the world's first teapots were created. During the years that followed, the distinctive reddish stoneware teapots of Yixing came to be considered the "best" by Chinese tea aficionados, and when, in the late 17th century, Yixing teapots were introduced to Europe along with the first tea shipments, they became the model for the earliest Dutch, German and English teapots.