Tea Cup With Geisha Bottom
Early 20th Century Japanese Japonisme Tea Sets
Gold
20th Century Japanese Porcelain
Porcelain
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Silver, Sterling Silver
Antique Late 19th Century East Asian Japonisme Tea Sets
Zinc
Vintage 1930s English Art Deco Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Vintage 1910s English Neoclassical Dinner Plates
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Meiji Tea Sets
Gold
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Meiji Tea Sets
Gold
Vintage 1950s American Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
Antique Early 1900s European Empire Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1930s Italian Art Deco Porcelain
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Antique Early 17th Century Chinese Chinese Export Ceramics
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Japanese Meiji Tea Sets
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Vintage 1950s Japanese Japonisme Tea Sets
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Antique Late 19th Century German Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Antique Early 19th Century French Charles X Architectural Elements
Stone, Copper
Early 20th Century Italian Art Nouveau Table Lamps
Marble, Bronze
Antique 1880s British Tea Sets
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Recent Sales
20th Century Japanese Japonisme Tea Sets
Ceramic, Porcelain, Paint
Vintage 1920s Japanese Japonisme Tea Sets
Gold
Finding the Right tea-sets for You
Ready to serve high tea and brunch for your family and friends? Start with the right antique, new or vintage tea set.
Tea is a multicultural, multinational beverage and isn’t confined to any particular lifestyle or age group. It has humble beginnings, and one of its best-known origin stories places the first cups of tea in 2700 B.C. in China, where it was recognized for its medicinal properties. Jump ahead to 17th-century England, when Chinese tea began to arrive at ports in London. During the early 1800s, tea became widely affordable, and the concept of teatime took shape all over England. Today, more than 150 million people reportedly drink tea daily in the United States.
Early tea drinkers enjoyed their beverage in a bowl, and English potters eventually added a handle to the porcelain bowls so that burning your fingers became less of a teatime hazard. With the rise in the popularity of teatime, tea sets, also referred to as tea service, became a hot commodity.
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.
During the early 1920s, a sterling-silver full tea service and tray designed by Tiffany & Co. might include a hot-water kettle on a stand, a coffeepot, teapot, a creamer with a small lip spout, a waste bowl and a bowl for sugar, which the British were stirring into tea as early as the 18th century.
But you don’t have to limit your tea set to Victorian or Art Deco styles — shake up teatime with an artful contemporary service. If the bold porcelain cups and saucers by Italian brand Seletti are too unconventional for your otherwise subdued tea circle, find antique services on 1stDibs from Japan, France and other locales as well as vintage mid-century modern tea sets and neoclassical designs.