Visually, it's very arresting and interesting. And it's lively - it moves. It also allows for all kinds of games with anthropomorphism - legs, arms, sexual organs. Beautifully resolved, it can be the most expressive object a potter can make. There's a teapot to suit every taste and pocketbook - commercially produce novelties for a few dollars, handmade wares for hundreds, works by established ceramic artists for thousands, and historical treasures for up to six figures.
Some collectors concentrate on the Western tea tradition, others on the East.
Some collect the accoutrements of tea - bowls, cups, infusers. People are attracted to teapots because you can collect all elephant ones, all figurative ones, all pottery ones, all women artists. And you don't necessarily have to spend allot of money. The couple had already been collecting ceramics for some years when they bought their first teapot, by Chris Staley, in 1984. I became fascinated by the idea of how an individual takes the constants of handle, spout, lid and body and treats them.