A RARE teapot has been unearthed by a Salisbury auction house.

The antique was discovered by Woolley and Wallis’s ceramics and glass specialist Clare Durham.

The fascinating find is only the seventh piece to be found of John Bartlam’s porcelain collection, with the other six now residing in the US, spread between private collections and museums.

The print on one side of the teapot, unrecorded on any piece of English porcelain, is identical to that on two saucers only recently re-attributed to John Bartlam from the Isleworth factory. This is only the second piece of Bartlam’s wares to come up at auction and the first in the UK - it is also the earliest known American porcelain teapot still in existence.

Bartlam emigrated from the UK in 1763, where he was established as a potter in Staffordshire.

He then set up his business in South Carolina producing slipwares, creamwares and pearlwares.

Private viewing of the teapot is now available by appointment in either Salisbury or London.