Blue Italian Teapot

Reading the reviews on here I wasn't sure what I would receive today (the cups/saucers and tea pot all arrived on the same day), but nothing was broken and there weren't any major flaws that screamed obvious seconds. The makers of Portmeirion now own Spode and have (by now) largely moved production back to the UK from China, so consider the date of the review when reading about past issues, and if you end up with one of these obviously flawed pieces from the past, simply return it. On these pieces received today (February 2020) There were three, sometimes four small rounded bumps on the underside of each saucer that were obviously from holes that the clay was poured into the mold. With finer china these would have been smoothed, but at this price point that's not the case, apparently. Still, they're not something you see in use, but they're there. You may feel them from time to time. I would have rather paid a little more and had them smoothed, but that's me. The four cups were shipped in a box with a four section cardboard divider for the cups, and then sitting on top of the tops of the cups were the saucers. The saucers only had a thin piece of cardboard in between each saucer and the tops of the cups, but in my case this proved sufficient. (I can totally see how these might arrive broken, however.) Unlike the tea caddy in the same pattern I bought a month ago, these pieces were made in England. If you hold any piece made in England up against the caddy made in China, the white of the porcelain is slightly more gray on the pieces from China. I think you have to be looking for it, though, and actually the slightly gray white with the blue looks a little more elegant (just as nowadays Pillivuyt and Apilco are owned by the same company and the Pillivuyt next to the Apilco looks slightly gray and just a bit more elegant). As I understand it, the Portmeirion Group has moved MOST production back to the UK from china (cups, saucers, plates, sugar, creamer, tea pot, for instance), but at this time SOME pieces in this collection are still made in China. They say which ones for each item on their web site, and I believe the reason for this (for now) is to keep costs down on pieces that have a high loss rate and which would otherwise be much costlier to produce and buy. Eventually all production may be back in the UK, but for now you can check the origin of each piece on their web site. Other than the bumps on the saucers I see no issue with these. I bought these specifically to use in the garden because I think with boxwood hedges and so on the blue and white "comes to life," whereas inside (to me) it looks dull. (This set when used on Downton Abbey was selected for Maggie Smith's kitchen staff, not the "upstairs" characters.) Since usually I have tea sets from Herend, Haviland, Limoges, et al., to me these seem a bit more heavy in comparison, but they're also considerably less expensive, so I don't really worry if anything breaks with these. I can also say that the tea pot (also received today) pours pretty well, but like all tea pots with a porcelain spout, there's always a tiny drip that drops when you stop pouring, so this set is best used on a tray rather than on a tablecloth. (Also, even though there is a small drip after pouring, compared to other porcelain tea sets I've used it seems minimal here.) All in all quite an inexpensive set for such an historic name and pattern, and, again, I'm happy to have it for the garden and to have a set I can break without "shedding any tears." As for the reviewer who thought the size too small, I have lots and lots of much better quality fine china in multiple patterns from various producers, and this tea pot is slightly LARGER in capacity than average. It's at least 4 1/2 cups from a Pyrex measuring cup (that's a lot of tea cups of tea from this, enough for 2-4 people for a half hour to an hour). Be sure to fill with hot water from your tap and to let it sit like that to warm through before making tea in it (or like me, making tea in a stainless steel pot then pouring that into this tea pot so it never has actual boiling water in it, but instead the water that's cooled to a non-volatile temperature in the few seconds it takes you to empty out the tap water you used to warm the pot, then pour the tea in). (If you ever hear an expensive tea pot crack from thermal shock like I have, you'll be reluctant to make tea directly in a fine china pot ever after.) One thing I do notice with this pot compared to finer china I own is the tea cools in the pot a little faster, so whereas with most it's hot for almost an hour, with this one it's maybe half an hour to 45 minutes. I think the porcelain is a little thicker than true fine china and so sucks the heat out of the tea and dissipates it into the air more quickly than thinner/finer china. (I'm not a scientist, though, but I have been drinking tea since 1986 and have owned/used many fine china, silver, glass, and stainless sets over the years, and this tea pot loses heat a little faster than any others I've used. It's the first one I've ever seen the advantage of maybe using a tea cosy with.)

Quick delivery and exactly what I was expecting. Beautiful design, great craftsmanship and the perfect size.

Buy this!!! It’s gorgeous and big! The blue color is like a French deep blue. It’s sooo beautiful! 💓

I ordered other Spode items from "Giftware Collection" and was sorely disappointed when they turned out to be cheap factory rejects with obvious defects in the china. This one was the exception: no obvious defects, a beautiful piece of china. The Blue Italian pattern is stunning. This teapot seems well-made and authentic. The only possible defect is a very slightly off-center hole in the spout for pouring -- not something I would have noticed except that I scrutinized it with extreme care after feeling so upset about the glaring defects in the other pieces I ordered, which arrived in the same red-and-white cardboard "Spode" boxes (different from the nicely printed blue gift boxes I've also seen, which seem to contain higher-quality pieces). It pours nicely and, in general, seems to have been well worth the purchase.

Beautiful teapot for my Spode collection but this is the 2nd one I have ordered & both arrived broken.

Lovely ceramic tea pot in the perfect size.

Love

Very pretty. This was on a young brides gift registry. It’s so pretty. I’m excited to see the younger generation embracing beautiful, entertaining items💛