Elizabeth I Teapot

A unique Chinese tea kettle that once belonged to Queen Elizabeth I sold for £1,079,000 to a London-based antique dealers Littleton and Hennessy, bidding on behalf of an overseas collector.
The silver-mounted Wucai pot was originally made for a Chinese emperor during the Ming dynasty in the late 15th century.
Alastair Gibson, head of the Chinese department at Sotheby's, said: "It is a wonderful, exotic and historic piece which, at the time, would have blown people's minds. You never saw porcelain in Europe then - it just didn't exist. Everything was dull and tawdry and people were mainly eating off metal."
"The piece symbolised a new age of travel and exploration and we are delighted with the sale."