This teapot belongs to the type of reproduction ware made for Mao Ze Dong during the Cultural Revolution. It has an overglaze enamel landscape decoration on a pure white body. Translated, Zhong Nan Hai means the Central and Southern Seas, and is also known as the Sea Palaces. It has been home to the highest ranking members of the Communist Party including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and Liu Shaoqi. Most of the Communist Party offices are located here. It is an area known for its natural hills and ponds that inspired the emperors of the Liao Dynasty to choose it as their pleasure park, which probably explains the motif on this teapot.Propaganda items such as this instructed the masses on Communist ideology through depictions of Mao or other community leaders, slogans and ideological writing.
