Ah, the lost art of tea potting! Apparently it was a thriving culture in the 18th century when the blind tea potter Seamus Nambarrie wandered Ireland and entertained the masses with his mastery of the aforesaid delph vessel.

Contemporary accounts tell of him playing "Polly Put the Kettle On", "Tea For Two", "Autumn Leaves", "Leaf(ing) On a Jet Plane', "The Leaf(ing) of Liverpool" and other stirring airs.

Who was the maker of your instrument? Is it in concert pitch? Do you make your own reeds? Do you make your own tea? Do you prefer loose tea or teabags? These may seem like mundane questions to those without any knowledge of tea potting but to those of us who live, breathe and drink tea, they're the burning questions we need answers to.

Do you play in sessions? I would imagine the tea pot would sound good with spoons.

Of course, most tea potters who master the instrument eventually move on to the tea urn. It's a much more demanding instrument but there's nothing quite like a tea urn marching band.