Le Mieux China
Early 20th Century French Louis XVI Porcelain
Gold Plate
Recent Sales
Mid-20th Century French Tea Sets
People Also Browsed
Antique 17th Century Belgian Tapestries
Wool
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Wall Lights and Sconces
Metal
Antique Late 19th Century Italian Neoclassical Revival Animal Sculptures
Terracotta
Vintage 1940s Italian Wall Lights and Sconces
Wood
Early 20th Century Italian Wall Lights and Sconces
Giltwood, Glass
20th Century Baroque Floor Lamps
Hardwood
20th Century French Belle Époque Wall Lights and Sconces
Crystal
Antique Mid-19th Century French Lanterns
Brass
Antique 1830s American American Empire Animal Sculptures
Gold Leaf
Antique 19th Century French Neoclassical Revival Prints
Paper
Antique 1880s French Belle Époque Chandeliers and Pendants
Bronze
20th Century Console Tables
Marble
Antique Late 18th Century English Arms, Armor and Weapons
Steel
Early 20th Century Italian Neoclassical Wall Lights and Sconces
Wood
Vintage 1960s French Neoclassical Wall Lights and Sconces
Bronze
Antique 1780s Austrian Wall Mirrors
Giltwood
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.