Delivering a refreshing brew to princesses and common folk alike, the humble teapot has been bridging the gap between classes for centuries. The first purposebuilt teapots were made during the Chinese Ming dynasty in the 1500s; made from the red-brown clay of the Yixing province, known to be particularly heat resistant, the tea was originally drunk straight from the teapot’s spout. Yixing teapots were first imported to Europe by the Portuguese and Dutch and
