Today’s teapot is one from the Ebay seller that is a particularly lovely one.  It features a distressed yellow and blue pattern and since that is one of my favorite color combinations I am thrilled with this purchase. My other friend, not Mr. Google but Mr. Wikipedia, informed me what “toile” means.

Toile is a fabric, from the French word meaning “linen cloth” or “canvas”, particularly cloth or canvas for painting on. The word “toile” can refer to the fabric itself, a test garment (generally) sewn from the same material, or a type of repeated surface decoration (traditionally) printed on the same fabric. The term entered the English language around the 12th century.

However this is not a French teapot but rather—one made in China.  As are many things.

I know very well that I am in a minority here. But still, how can you call yourself a true tea-lover if you destroy the flavour of your tea by putting sugar in it? It would be equally reasonable to put pepper or salt. Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you are no longer tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you could make a very similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water. ~George Orwell, “A Nice Cup of Tea,”Evening Standard, 12 January 1946