"A well written book that deals with the story of coffee and tea and how they came to form such an important part of our everyday lives cannot fail to be interesting. The need for coffee pots and teapots to be both practical and aesthetically pleasing in design has made great demands upon the skill of the potter and silversmith. Connoisseurs have acknowledged this skill by forming specialised collections from which most of the 160 colour and black and white illustrations have been taken. In particular you will discover the fascination of the shapes, of the strange Chinese forms and even stranger English copies of Elers and Wheildon, of beautiful shapes and decorations from Meissen and Worcester and the more humble cottagepots of Staffordshire. As well as being a first-class reference book, it is possible to learn from it the basics for starting a collection of your own coffee pots and teapots." --