Tea Cup With Geisha Bottom
Early 20th Century Japanese Other Tea Sets
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Japanese Japonisme Tea Sets
Gold
20th Century Japanese Porcelain
Porcelain
Antique Early 1900s Japanese Japonisme Ceramics
Gold
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Mid-20th Century Japanese Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
20th Century Japanese Japonisme Tea Sets
Ceramic, Porcelain, Paint
Vintage 1920s Japanese Japonisme Tea Sets
Gold
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20th Century Tableware
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Blown Glass, Murano Glass
Vintage 1970s Japanese Industrial Wall Lights and Sconces
Brass, Copper, Iron
Antique 1870s Victorian Crystal Serveware
20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Coffee and Cocktail Tables
Wood
Antique Late 19th Century Vienna Secession Corner Chairs
Oak
Vintage 1920s English Dinner Plates
Porcelain
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Porcelain
Vintage 1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Beds and Bed Frames
Velvet, Walnut
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Meiji Commodes and Chests of Drawers
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20th Century Tableware
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1990s Italian Modern Chandeliers and Pendants
Glass
Antique 19th Century Swedish Gustavian Cabinets
Oak, Pine
Mid-20th Century Japanese Meiji Tableware
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Vintage 1980s Japanese Post-Modern Ceramics
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Antique Mid-19th Century English Desks
Rosewood
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.
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