Dragon sprout pots

A popular pots produced in the 80s are the ones with dragon heads as sprouts. These teapots come in two sizes and a variety of colours. Some produced as early as the 70s have a filter ball inside the pot just before the start of the sprout. This filter ball looks like a golf ball with tiny holes all over the surface. The function of the filter ball is to prevent tea leaves leaving the teapot, thus spoiling your clean cup of clear tea. This particular teapot design is unique as the pots were meant for export market in the 70s, mostly to Japan and some ended up in South East Asia.

In the early days of my collection, my friends and I would go to any shops that had teapots on display on shelves. We would open the lid of the pots and check for the little ball inside the pot. If we found one, we would shout with delight, as if we had find treasures. Finding a teapot with a ball filter inside was indeed a tough job as there weren't many such teapots around even during those days. If you were lucky, you might be able to buy one such teapot made by a craftsmaster. That was really what I called 'treasure hunting' and the hunt was filled with fun and thrill.