Allison Appleton Teaware - Great Teapots With Built-In Strainers
Meet the Liverpool based creator of stunning, award winning, durable and easy to use teaware designs – now available at Twinings.co.uk.
he amazing Alison Appleton has always been a tea lover, and since 1998 has combined her love of tea with her passion for ceramics. Alison believes that: “Once you become a tea fanatic it really does matter to you how you make it.” Her favourite blend is one specially prepared for her by Twinings master blenders.
For Alison, a teapot wants to be beautifully formed and easy to use – which is why all of the teapots available on Twinings.co.uk include built-in tea strainers.
Who Is Alison Appleton
Alison studied textile and pattern design initially and stumbled into ceramics almost by accident: “I visited a factory in Portugal, who were making really lovely ceramics, but with horrible patterns – so they asked me to put patterns on them”.
Falling in love with the shapes Alison started working with the mould-makers in the factory in order to learn all the skills involved. Form quickly became her true passion, and has led to her creating a teaware emporium popular with tea drinkers across the country.
Her Inspiration
Alison draws her inspiration from three main sources: Mother Nature, fairytales and the long and fascinating history of tea.
This can be clearly seen in her designs. The miraculous tea plant Camellia Sinensis, from which all teas are derived, inspired the beautiful and deceptively simple Camellia teapot and teacups, which starred in the Twinings advert. Alison says of her creation:
“I wanted to design a classic white porcelain teapot but there are so many around, it had to have a touch of the unexpected. The undulating and contrasting shapes of the top of the pot, the lid and the curved edge on the mugs were inspired by the curving petals of the white blossom on Camellia Sinensis.”
A perfect sort of teapot one might say.
On the social, cultural and global history of tea, Alison says:
“The basis is to think about the history of tea, and also the cultural occasions when people drink it around the world.
People drink tea at all time, to calm them down, to revive them – I try to think about the environment they will be in and bring in some cultural aspect from different parts of the world.”
We can see this in the beautifully crafted Emperor Birds Tea Set – inspired by the land of tea itself – China, and the English obsession with Chinoiserie style ceramics in the 18th century, it is also imbued with references to the fairytale of the Emperor and the Nightingale. Killing two birds with one stone (no pun intended). This beautiful teaset looks like cast iron, but is in fact ceramic – so much lighter and easier to handle, with the perfect pour.
Alison Appleton Fritz Teapot With Built-In Strainer
Shop All Alison Appleton
Alison Appleton Fritz Teapot - Red
Alison Appleton Fritz Teapot - Yellow
Alison Appleton Fritz Teapot - White
Alison Appleton Fritz Teapot - Black
£24.00 each
Fritz porcelain teapot with fine stainless steel infuser is perfect for brewing the finest tea exactly how you like it.
£24.00 each
Fritz porcelain teapot with fine stainless steel infuser is perfect for brewing the finest tea exactly how you like it.
£24.00 each
Fritz porcelain teapot with fine stainless steel infuser is perfect for brewing the finest tea exactly how you like it.
£24.00 each
Fritz porcelain teapot with fine stainless steel infuser is perfect for brewing the finest tea exactly how you like it.
Teaware Designs Available At Twinings.co.uk
All of Alison’s award winning and eye catching designs not only add a touch of glamour to your tea table but all her tea pots are very easy to handle: They come with an integrated, easy-to-remove and easy-to-clean, stainless steel tea strainer with fine pores to ensure every type of tea is filtered to perfection.
Emperor Birds Tea Set
Designed to look like traditional cast iron, this beautiful and unique tea set is understandably a best seller. Made from De Hua porcelain and black clay, this tea set with built in, removable tea strainer is much lighter to wield and brings a sense of occasion to a tea party.
Fritz Teapots
Attractive, functional and wonderfully easy to use and store, these teapots come in a range of colours: Red, white, yellow, grey and blue. Inspired by the simplicity and formality of a traditional Chinese tea ceremony.