Courtesy The Chitra Collection
Peter Carl Fabergé is best known for his Imperial Eggs but his firm also applied the same ornate sensibility to tea containers like this one.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
While the pot itself was made in China and then exported, the metal mount was added only after it arrived at its destination to reduce the likelihood of damage during transport.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
Silversmith J.J. Irminger took inspiration from Chinese and Japanese porcelain work, as well as European silver objects.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
"Famille verte" (green family) was used to describe teapots using this type of green enamel. This style was commonly exported from China to the West.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
This teapot was specially commissioned by the Chitra Foundation. It incorporates emeralds, yellow diamonds, ruby, topaz and ivory.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
Silversmith Paul de Lamerie became renowned for creative, unconventional teapot designs inspired by the Rococo movement.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
This tea caddy from the same period also features Rococo elements.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
This ivory tea caddy -- complete with hand-drawn ink designs -- was especially tight to preserve expensive teas and spices shipped from India to Britain.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
Designed by Tiffany & Co. director Edward C. Moore, this tea set won the grand prix for silverware at the 1878 Exposition Universelle in Paris, one of the brand's first major successes.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
This tea bowl was produced just as the kiln started being used across China. It's called a "hare's fur" tea bowl because the glaze is said to resemble it.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
During the mid to late 1800s, buyers in the West were obsessed with the idea of Japanese style and art. This teapot was especially painted with scenes of Japanese life to appeal to this obsession.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
This cup and saucer are decorated with hunting scenes.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
Adam Loofs was court goldsmith to William III, King of England and Stadholder of the
Netherlands.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
Early Chinese porcelain was made from a mix of kaolin and petuntse (a type of rock). It would be centuries before European craftsman would be able to make it themselves.
Courtesy The Chitra Collection
This Japanese tea bowl, named "Akebone" (dawn) by its creator, was made from clay.
CNN  — 

The world’s most opulent teaware collection has landed in London.

The most historically significant pieces from the Chitra Collection, a private collection of antique teaware owned by tea entrepreneur Nirmal Sethia, are being presented as part of the city’s annual LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair.

Spanning centuries and continents, the collection includes a Chinese tea bowl dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279) as well as more recent pieces from Fabergé and Tiffany & Co.

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A tea treasure trove

Comprising more than 1700 pieces and worth up to £160 million ($212 million), the Chitra Collection is “the world’s finest and most comprehensive private collection of historic teaware,” according to LAPADA.

Sethia, co-founder chairman of Newby Teas, started the collection through his N. Sethia Foundation in 2011 as a way of preserving tea’s cultural history and inspiring new respect for tea and its related traditions.

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LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair is only the second time that the public has been able to see the collection. Almost 100 pieces were exhibited in 2015 at the National Museum of Kazakhstan, attracting 400,000 visitors over three months.

Look through the gallery above to find out more about some of the most important pieces on display.

The Chitra Collection is on display at the LAPADA Art & Antiques Fair until September 18.