During the 17th and 18th centuries a number of potteries in Lambeth and Vauxhall specialised in the production of tin-glazed earthenware, from which this teapot is made. This is often known as delftware, after the Dutch city Delft, which was renowned for its prolific output of objects made from this material. English delftware was manufactured in England from the 16th century, and by the late-17th century, began to copy Chinese and Japanese decorative styles, inspired by the vast amounts of East-Asian porcelain imported in to Europe. This teapot is decorated with pagodas, grassy hills and stylised trees below clouds, and includes the double scroll Buddhist motif ruyi symbolizing “what one desires”. The star-shaped foliage on the trees is a motif that was used at the Vauxhall delftworks of Jonathan Chilwell III, and it is possible that this is where this teapot was made.
