Vintage Tea Set China Blue And Gold
Late 20th Century Tea Sets
Porcelain
Vintage 1970s German Tea Sets
Bone
1980s Italian For The Table
People Also Browsed
1960s Italian For The Desk
Vintage 1930s Russian Baltic Tea Sets
Porcelain
20th Century American Vases
Early 20th Century Swiss Art Deco Pocket Watches
Gold
Vintage 1930s German Art Deco Tea Sets
Metal
2010s German Country Porcelain
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Japonisme Tableware
Porcelain
Antique 1820s English Regency Tea Sets
Porcelain
Vintage 1960s German Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century German Neoclassical Tableware
Porcelain
Antique Late 19th Century Tea Sets
Porcelain
Antique 1810s English Regency Tea Sets
Porcelain
Antique Late 19th Century Japanese Tea Sets
Enamel, Copper
Mid-20th Century Austrian Biedermeier Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1980s German Porcelain
Porcelain
Vintage 1970s German Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
Recent Sales
Late 20th Century Neoclassical Tea Sets
Porcelain
Antique 1890s English Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Porcelain
Antique 19th Century Victorian Tea Sets
Porcelain
Antique Early 1900s English Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Porcelain
Antique 1890s English Late Victorian Tea Sets
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Victorian Tableware
Porcelain
Antique 1810s English Regency Tea Sets
Pearlware
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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