Democratic Sentinel, Volume 7, Number 35, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 28 September 1883 — A Magazine of Teapots. [ARTICLE]

A Magazine of Teapots.

It is upon record that the largest collection of tea-pots known, was the much-prized possession of Mrs. Hawes, an English lady. Three hundred of these frail, beautiful memorials of an honored past were bequeathed to her daughter; under her artistic eye, a room has been devoted to them, where they are arranged with great effect. Among them are several once the property of Queen Charlotte—some with two divisions and two spouts, for the comfortable accommodation of both green and black tea. Great variety 'in size is seen, and pleasant is it io note that the gradual enlargement of these “sacred household vessels”—from the diminutive creations appropriate to the times when the fragrant herb was sold in small parcels at the apothecary’s shop, to those of ampler proportions to such capacious

receptacles aa were essential to the comfort of that prince of tea drinkers, Dr. Johnson. It is said that he owned one tea-pot holding two quarts, and another, once owned by Mrs. Pioggi—“a three-quart measure of delight.” This last is described as “of old Oriental porcelain,” much painted in quaint device, and richly gilt. George IV. had, it seems, a passion for similar “relics of pleasure,” and had his royal collection “piled in pyramids” in the pavilion at Brighton.