How many come up for sale each year?

Around 29 pieces reach the market annually on Sellingantiques, and 64 separate dealers have listed in the category. That covers teapots, stands, coffee pots, kettles and services together, so the number of full sterling pots in any given year is smaller than the headline suggests.

Why are so many listings teapot stands?

Stands are almost as numerous as pots. Eighty-three titles mention one, and they were made in quantity because every hot pot needed something between it and the table. Twenty-two of those are silver-mounted, usually on glass, and usually Birmingham of the 1920s and 1930s. Others are plain silver, pierced or cased.

What period do most of these date from?

The dated field runs from 1700 to 1960, with 128 of the 286 listings carrying a clean year. Georgian is the largest period label at 62, Victorian next at 46. There is then a clear twentieth-century block: 29 pieces from the 1930s, 24 from the 1920s, 21 from the 1900s. A handful sit outside the antique range entirely.

Are silver-plated teapots included here?

Yes. Plated pieces make up 35 titles, roughly one in eight, and they are rising in current stock. The group takes in Old Sheffield Plate, which is silver fused onto copper, and later electroplated Edwardian tea sets of three, four and six pieces.

Which assay towns turn up?

London leads with 16 named titles, then Birmingham with 12 and Sheffield with 10. Beyond those three, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Chester, Newcastle, York, Exeter and Dublin each appear once or twice across the range.

Do unusual or novelty forms appear?

Occasionally, and always as one-offs. A teapot-shaped pin cushion, a novelty teapot inkwell and a George I toy teapot have all been catalogued. The earliest dated examples include a West Country miniature herb teapot given as circa 1730, a small German pear-shape from Hamburg of the 1720s, and a Scottish bullet teapot hallmarked 1742.