The Pewter Tea Pot

There are a great number of pewter tea pots, from the very ornate to the incredibly simple ones.

Historically, a pewter item was found in an Egyptian tomb that was verified to be from 1450 BC, although it is known that pewter was even used in 3000 BC.

The pewter teapot of today is often made by artisans in the north of Italy.

There they are handcrafted and they use the methods that have been passed down through the many generations of Italian artisans.

Many of them are crafted and signed with their own hallmarks, denoting their skilled hand signatures.

It is said that these teapots look their best when they can reflect candlelight in celebrations recalling storytelling the way that it used to be in the “old” days when pewter was used universally in the making of teapots.

Japanese Influence

For centuries the Japanese made such teapots. Many of them had bamboo handles so that the user did not burn them, and often they were decorated with beautiful dragons that were depicted in traditional pewter relief.

Collecting

Many of the collector vintage pewter pots featured hand crafted wooden handles, and there are even some with handles actually made of animal horns.

Just the ornate pewter carvings on the handles are enough to interest many collectors.

There are some tea pots that are very tiny. These were used for single servings of tea, and collectors have been known to call these “baby” teapots.

Victorian

When you find a Victorian pewter tea pot, chances are that it features a domed lid, and perhaps a floral knopf, which refers to a German word meaning button. It is the tiny top to the domed lid. Often these teapots were even made in a rare oval shape.

There were also embossed scrolled handles found on Victorian teapots. These tea pot artifacts have been found though from the late but not early 17th and 18th centuries. Antique pewter tends to have a bluish tone to it due to the lead.

Who Makes These Today

Some of today’s better-known pewter teapot makers are Woodbury, Boardman, Salisbury, and Gorham.

When looking at antique reproductions, you will find that every period had a popular design and shape whether straight sided, square, inverted pear, round pear shaped, or even ovals.

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