Gorham Silverplate Tray

As a part of your efforts to introduce a calm and tranquil aesthetic to your living room, dining room or other common area, consider how vintage and antique coffee sets and tea sets might play a role in welcoming guests as well as a relaxing atmosphere to your home.

Coffee and tea both have a ritualistic place in history that spans centuries and continents. Some of the oldest tea sets date to the Han dynasty in China. The early tea sets were simple and featured serving bowls rather than teapots. Over time, tea sets and coffee sets evolved to include the variety of pieces that modern sets have today.

Europe became enthralled with tea in the early 1600s when Portuguese and Dutch traders brought it back from China. Around this time, the Ottoman Empire — today’s Turkey — introduced coffee to Europe. In England, tea drinking has been a royal preoccupation for hundreds of years.

It all began in 1662, when Portugal’s Catherine of Braganza brought a canister of tea with her as part of her dowry when she arrived in England to wed King Charles II. During Queen Victoria’s reign, teakettles and coffeepots were added to tea services that were quite large. Indeed, small baked goods were served with your drink back then, and a tea set could include many teacups and saucers, a milk pot and other accessories. Early coffee tables surfaced in Victorian-era England, likely influenced by the use of tea tables in Japanese tea gardens. Since then, tea sets and coffee sets have been created in a range of styles and materials over the years.

Browse 1stDibs for a selection of authentic antique and vintage coffee sets and tea sets, reflecting a time when serving tea and coffee to guests represented the height of class and sophistication. Modern and contemporary designs offer a new take on these enduring objects.