The Top 10 World’s Most Expensive Teapots Ever Made

Most of us can’t imagine starting our day without a rejuvenating cup of tea or coffee. And if served in an exquisite tea set, it would feel really incredible. Appeal for exclusive teapots and tea sets has been growing tremendously these past few years. Maybe it is because of the historical value they hold. You can get a good quality tea set for only a couple of hundred bucks. However, if you have a taste for antiques with an eye for detail, then you must buckle for the price they may come at.

Today we bring you the world’s most exclusive tea sets, some even belonging to kings and queens from hundreds of years ago. All of these amazing works of art have been sold for amounts you may have never thought of. So, let’s take a peek at these exquisite works of art that can cost you millions of dollars.

The Most Exquisite Tea Sets to Ever Exist

Here we bring you the list of the most expensive tea sets in the world whose prices will amaze you. Let’s learn what they are made of and why they come with such a hefty price tag?

1.   The Egoist – $3,000,000

The Egoist teapot, an award-winning creation by Mr. Sethia, holds only one cup of tea as a tribute to tea’s cultural importance. It took over 1730 hours of work by an Italian jeweler to manufacture and will be displayed in the world’s largest private collection of tea accessories, the Chitra Collection. Let`s explore the top luxurious jewelry brands in the world whose price are equal to the tea set.

The expert designed this exquisite teapot with the finest diamonds and rubies, all of which were carefully picked by Nirmal Sethia personally. 1658 brilliant-cut diamonds and 386 rounded brilliant-cut rubies shine in every color of this masterpiece, with a centerpiece of a super-fine Thai ruby framed in the shape of a sun. The lid has natural ruby beading, and its grip is made of a mammoth’s ivory.

The Egoist is now owned by the N Sethia Foundation, which supports charities such as the “Chitra Sethia Centre for Robotics and Minimal Access Surgery” and the “Chitra Sethia Autism Centre in Cambridge”. 

2.   Pair of Famille Rose Melon Teapots – $2,180,000

In May 2011, an unidentified Chinese buyer paid $2.18 million for this pair of 18th-century “Melon” teapots at a Bonhams auction in Glasgow. They established a new ceramics record. The two highly rare teapots from the early Qianlong era appear to be ready for Cinderella’s fairy godmother to change them into a stately carriage at any time. Each has five lobes, a naturalistic shape, a curved spout, and a handle enameled to mimic woodgrain, and is covered in pink and white plum blossoms. They bear the Qianlong Dynasty’s iron-red seal. A Scottish family sold them for more than six times their expected price, making them the most expensive teapots ever sold. People love to keep the expensive items Let`s read more about the Top most expensive things in the world.

3.   1948 Yixing Zisha Teapot – $2,000,000

This exquisite 1948 purple clay teapot produced by master ceramicist Gu Jingzhou, the most famous potter in twentieth-century China, sold for an astonishing two million dollars at the China Guardian auction that happened in Beijing in May of 2010. The teapot is composed of a peculiar clay found solely in the Yixing area of China. Zisha clay comes in five natural hues, the rarest of which being purple. What distinguishes this sort of clay is that there is no lead, but rather different kinds of minerals that are said to be helpful to tea consumers and improve the flavor and smell of the tea within. 

Yixing teapots are connected to ancient Chinese literature through engravings of poems, making them valuable to collectors. Each teapot is designed for a specific type of tea due to its pores storing oil. The 1948 Yixing zisha teapot has a squat shape, one handle, and one spout, with calligraphic engravings and bamboo carvings. Like tea pot that fetched millions same as like by the expensive paintings were also sold that fetched millions.

4.   Yixing Stoneware Teapot by Gu Jingzhou – $1,320,000

In November 2013, two stoneware teapots made by Chinese master potter and artist Gu Jingzhou sold for $1.32 million each at the Bonhams Hong Kong auction. Gu Jingzhou, a native of Yixing, lived from 1915 to 1996. He was known as the “Great Master of Teapot Art” and the “Master of Chinese Industrial Arts.” The two basic yet lovely teapots were created roughly 70 years ago from zisha clay sourced from the Yixing district of the province of Jiangsu in Central China. Zisha clay is a sort of non-refractory fire clay that is highly sought after by tea makers due to its ideal pores, that improve the tea’s flavor. 

 There is a greater overall flavor and scent than tea brewed in glass, porcelain, or glazed teapots. The two cylindrical ceramic teapots are -brownish-red in color and without glaze.

5.   A rare pair – Famille Rose Coral-Ground Teapots – $1,260,000

This incredibly rare set of Famille Rose Coral-Ground Teapots, dating back to the Imperial Qianlong Dynasty era (1736-1795), displays landscapes painted in blue and green by the most renowned Qing painters. The porcelain vases are exquisite works of art and precious historical objects that demonstrate Emperor Qianlong’s respect for European culture.

The pair appears to be the only two identical in the world, with a unique design and ornamentation, including a flattened oval body with enameled floral scrolls and gold foliate meanders, a scrolling handle, and a square-sectioned spout. A private collector from Hong Kong acquired the fascinating teapots, which have the Imperial Qianlong stamp mark under a clear glaze, for 1.26 million dollars during a Christie’s auction.

6.   No Stamp Act Teapot – $130,000

During the Hansons auction in April 2009, a rare chipped teacup with a colonial protest sign sold for an incredible $130,000. The exquisite egg-shaped teapot in tones of orange, estimated to be from 1765, carries a statement that was as relevant then as it is now. Josiah Wedgwood, an advocate of open trade in America, produced the teapot during King George III’s reign.

Featuring the contentious message against the act that led to the Boston Tea Party, “No Stamp Act” and “Success to Trade in America,” it is a historical piece against the Stamp Act, the act that eventually led to the American Revolution and the Declaration of Independence. Rare orange teapot fetches 40 times estimate at the Hanson auction in 2009, sold to an American collector for political and historical significance.

7.   The Half-Figure Service Meissen porcelain tea set – $850,000

The “Half Figure Service” is an eight-piece tea set manufactured in 1723 and is known as one of the world’s greatest Meissen porcelain collections. The tea set has “Half Figure Service” artwork, which is believed to be one of the most sought-after styles of European porcelain painting.

Each piece of this masterpiece was painted with Kauffahrtei scenes of merchants and their products on a quayside, each scene set within a gold scrollwork cartouche. It was sold for 541,250 GBP (around 850,000 USD at the time) and is regarded as one of the most costly tea sets ever built.

Germany’s Meissen porcelain (called for the tiny town where it is headquartered) was the first European hard-paste porcelain, created in 1708. The factory has long been a household brand in lovely ceramics, producing pieces for some of Europe’s most prestigious royal houses.

8.   The Westinghouse Set: Tiffany “Japanese style” tea set – $380,000

In the late 19th century, Edward Moore, chief silversmith at Tiffany’s, created a luxury tea set that showcased his ability to fuse different styles to create something new and innovative. The set won the Grand Prix for silverware at the 1878 Paris Exposition and featured a pioneering technique called “mixed metal” that involved inlaying differently colored metals and hardstones into the silver.

The set’s design also lent inspiration from Japanese art, which was quite popular at the time and would later influence the Art Nouveau movement. Each piece, including a sleek teapot and sugar tongs, was designed with a modern aesthetic that was ahead of its time. Overall, the set is considered one of the first examples of a truly modern luxury tea set.

9.   Marianne Brandt – An important and rare Tea Infuser – $361,000

Marianne Brandt’s 1927 tea infuser sold at auction for $361,000, setting the world record for Bauhaus design. Brandt’s Model Tea Infuser, constructed of silver-plated ebony and brass, was sold privately to an American museum at Sotheby’s in New York in December 2014. 

Its small stature, at only three inches high, is due to its function. Unlike traditional teapots, it is designed for distilling a concentrated extract that, when mixed with hot water in a cup, may generate tea of any strength. The traditional parts of a teapot have been reimagined as abstract geometric shapes. The handle, a D-shaped slice of ebony situated high for ease of pouring, adds a striking vertical contrast to the object’s otherwise horizontal design. Although the pot’s functioning is carefully considered, its visual impact comes from the bold sculptural statement it makes. It is definitely contemporary. Expensive teapots are designed by different artists. Let’s read more about the most expensive artists in the world.

10.  Chinese Silver-Gilt Tea Service – $275,000

An 18th / 19th-century Chinese silver-gilt tea set from the Qing era belonging to the estate of Queen Juliana of Holland was auctioned for $275,000. Oriental filigree silver pieces appear to have been popular at European courts throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Although it is unclear who initially got this tea set at the Dutch court, or where and by whomever it was made, stylistic traits suggest that it originated in China in the 18th century.

Given its age, the item is generally in good shape. However, there are many defects to the filigree, particularly the tea cups with handles. The filigree comes free from the plain rims in many spots. One cup is missing its handle, while the rest are damaged. The silver standard is less than 800, which is below the Dutch legal alloy. 

Read more about Expensive Real Estate & Properties