Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
1980s Italian Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
20th Century Italian Post-Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Metal
1980s American Post-Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Ceramic, Porcelain
Late 20th Century Taiwanese Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Textile, Wood
1970s American Space Age Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century Art Deco Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
Early 2000s Italian Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Ceramic
Early 2000s Italian Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Ceramic
1960s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Steel, Chrome
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
1940s Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Metal, Brass
21st Century and Contemporary Portuguese Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Cotton, Wood
20th Century Spanish Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Linen, Hemp, Polyester
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Metal, Aluminum, Steel
Mid-20th Century English Rococo Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Danish Bauhaus Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Fabric, Beech
2010s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Steel, Bronze
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Steel, Metal, Aluminum
21st Century and Contemporary American Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Paper
Recent Sales
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Enamel, Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
1990s Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Aluminum
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century Post-Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century Italian Post-Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Steel, Enamel
1990s Italian Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Aluminum
1980s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Metal, Chrome
1980s Italian Modern Vintage Alessi Tea Kettle
Stainless Steel
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.