Yixing potters, past and present, like to use animals as motifs on the cover of the teapots they have designed and created. A great variety of animals have been seen on the covers of teapots. Some are domestic animals, others are from wild life. As the potters are very skillful and have artistic talent, the little animals they crafted are lively and cute. When you brew tea with such teapots, you not only can enjoy the fragrance of fine tea, you can also appreciate the beautiful things of the world. In this case, you can admire those little animals that we are so familiar with. They are just like us, the inhabitants of the great earth. They have their role to play in our life. For instance, buffalo is associated with farmer; statue of lion is to keep watch over property (there are usually statues of stone lions in front of banks and other buildings as symbols of protection); rabbit is often associated with Chang Er (the lady that ascended to the moon as told in old legend) and squirrels that depict life and its abundance.
Alans Museum has collected a couple of such teapots using animals as themes in the teapot designs. Below are just some examples.
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| Buffalo, farmer's best friend |
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| Squirrel |
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| Lion |
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| Squirrel |
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Rabbit
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