Gloria and Sonny Kamm, a couple in Los Angeles, California, have collected well more than 17,000 teapots. Theirs is considered the world’s largest collection and extraordinary for its sheer depth and variety of styles, materials, and themes. Ranging from the 17th to the 21st centuries and from famous European producers (such as Meissen, Wedgwood, and Royal Worcester), China’s Qing Dynasty, and contemporary artists to industrial designers, the teapots are made from every imaginable material—clay, glass, silver, copper, brass, wood, stone (including lapis lazuli and jasper), beads, and even coconuts. Themes depict everything from history, animals, and flowers to people. Many are pure art, non-functional teapots—the Kamms have commissioned more than 1,100 of these. Recently, the Craft in America Center in Los Angeles showcased dozens of their arty teapots in Tea…
