Collecting teapots

Experts in tea drinking often say that you need one teapot to brew one type of tea and you cannot mix different teas in the same teapot. Even so, 3 or 4 teapots are enough if you like to drink a variety of Chinese teas. So, you don't really need to possess a lot of teapots. But then for some tea drinkers, they fall in love with teapots easily just like the way they appreciate their tea. For them, it is fun to collect teapots for the sake of  admiring them. This is because teapots come with many different colours and sizes, creative designs and excellent workmanship (if potters are craft-masters in the trade) it is indeed interesting in that the artistic designs of teapots not only serve as art pieces but as utensils for every day's use, brewing tea. The amazing thing is that these pots appreciate in value over the years.

Needless to say, one can get addicted if one starts to collect teapots. There are just so many different designs to choose from and so many potters to check out with. It is no easy task for beginners as homework and research need to be carried out if you really want to collect some good stuff. If not, you will be paying school fees, as they normally said if you got cheated.

I started collecting teapots in the 80s. During those years, good teapots could be found everywhere, if you could spot them as they were like pearls hidden in hay (A Cantonese proverb). Although I did pay some school fees, but luckily the sum is small and I managed to recover from my mistakes. Over the years of my hunting, I managed to acquire a sizeable collection.