English: Teapot with Actresses

Italy, Venice
1720-7
Teapot and cover of hard-paste porcelain painted with enamels, Vezzi porcelain factory, Venice, ca. 1725.
This tiny teapot is painted with female characters from Italian comedy. The Vezzi factory where it was made, played a key role in the history of European porcelain. The Vezzi brothers were involved in a series of incidents of industrial espionage. It was these actions that led to the secret of manufacturing Meissen porcelain becoming widely known

Bequeathed by Mr Arthur Hurst