Sanborn Sterling Coffee And Tea Service
Vintage 1940s Mexican Modern Sterling Silver
Sterling Silver
Vintage 1940s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
People Also Browsed
Early 20th Century Spanish Art Deco Tea Sets
Silver
2010s Italian Art Deco Centerpieces
Blown Glass
Antique Early 19th Century German Folk Art Paintings
Metal
Antique 1870s German Rococo Porcelain
Porcelain
Antique Late 19th Century French Aesthetic Movement Barware
Earthenware
Antique Early 1900s English Edwardian Serving Pieces
Sterling Silver
Antique Early 19th Century French Regency Urns
Siena Marble, Bronze, Ormolu
Early 20th Century Regency Platters and Serveware
Silver Plate
Antique Late 19th Century European George III Tea Sets
Silver
Antique 1840s British Renaissance Pitchers
Pottery
20th Century English Victorian Soup Tureens
Ceramic, Majolica
Antique Late 19th Century French Crystal Serveware
Crystal
Antique Late 19th Century American Country Ceramics
Pottery
Early 20th Century British Serving Pieces
Silver Plate
Vintage 1940s Sheffield and Silverplate
Silver Plate
Vintage 1920s Swiss Art Deco Sterling Silver
Silver
Recent Sales
Vintage 1950s Mexican Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
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.