It seems that the origin of the teapot depends on which scholarly version one accepts, but the following information has been gathered and placed on the Internet by The Stash Tea Company.

According to Chou Kao-ch'i, who authored an account of Ishing teapots, early in the 16th century the potters at Ishing, near Shanghai, China, became famous for teapots known to Europeans by the Portuguese name `boccarro' (large mouth). These were small, individual pots, which came to Europe with teas, and served as models for the first European teapots.

Other scholars have discounted this theory and say that while the Chinese provided Europe with its first tea, historically they did not use teapots but brewed their tea directly in the cup.

Others believe that the design source for teapots may have come from one of two influences reaching Europe in the mid-1600s. The first was the Islamic coffee pots, which were first seen in the popular coffee houses of Europe and England during this period. The second design source might have been the Chinese wine vessels then being imported as a curiosity piece. Unsure of their use, it may have been assumed that they were connected with the tea in which they were packed to prevent breakage on the long voyage from China.

So although tea was originally Chinese, today's teapot design is basically European. The first examples were of a heavy cast with short, straight, replaceable spouts. Other variations which occurred during this early period were octagonal and melon shaped, as well as "fantasy'' designs such as plants and animals. Popular were squirrels, rabbits, camels, monkeys and bunches of bamboo, but because Europe lacked the porcelain technology to produce a quality teapot, these examples were deemed as failures due to poor clay and workmanship.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the East India Company recognised the growing demand for teapots, and began importing them in large numbers. The increased cargo had the additional function of being ballast in trade ships.

The Company commissioned china directly from Chinese arts and craftsmen, using patterns sent from England and geared to European tastes, stereotypes and market values.

Design fell into four main areas: mock-ups of Oriental designs (such as `Blue Willow' and `Tree of Life'), adaptations of European prints (such as the famous Georgian "house'' teapots), armorials (bearing the coat of arms of major European families), and innovative teapots such as those with the now-standard spout drain on the interior of the spout.

In 1710 Europe experienced a major commercial porcelain breakthrough. After much trial and error, imperial craftsmen found a clay near Meissen in Germany which, coupled with new technology, produced a porcelain equal to China's finest, and nearby Dresden quickly became the centre for fine European china.

By the mid-1700s the technique was being copied in England and France.

As Baroque and Rococo designs appeared they were adapted into porcelain production. Though teapots remained largely globular in shape, some pear-shaped ones became popular. Spouts were often shaped as dragons and other animals, and handles were elaborately embellished with scrolls and similar designs.

As Europe industrialised, a growing middle class developed, which sought to emulate the lifestyle of the upper classes. This included the ritual of afternoon tea, as a result of which huge numbers of teapots were suddenly needed, to which artist-merchants such as Josiah Wedgewood and Josiah Spode responded.

Around the 1770s, the first silver service tea pots were designed. Simple globular shapes soon gave way to straight-sided teapots, which were in turn replaced by the oval shapes of the 1770s. By the 1780s footed teapots appeared, designed to protect table tops from heat scarring.

In the 1800s the design of tea china became an exercise in fantasy. Beginning in the 1820s with Rococo, every major trend in Victorian art and craft styles was reflected, including Renaissance, Gothic, Chinese, Moorish, Arts and Crafts Movement (per William Morris), Japanese Arts, and Art Nouveau (massive floral forms).

Designs at the beginning of the twentieth century returned to simpler forms.

By the 1920s teapots were designed to be "functional'', within the tradition of the architect and designer Corbusier, who was a major influence. Among the most notable teapots designed by this school were the "cubes'', which were square.

With the advent of the Art Deco movement in the 1930s, the machine was seen as an art object, so teapots were designed as race cars, railroad engines, airplanes and even tanks.

In the 1960s, teapots were again functional, reflecting the trend of "modernism''. By the 1970s novelty teapots reappeared, this time as a variety of animals and even as space capsules. During the 1980s elegance returned to teapot design, with many classic patterns from the 1700s and early 1800s being reproduced.