Tea Sets
20th Century Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Art Deco Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Silver
20th Century American Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1950s Vintage Tea Sets
1920s German Art Deco Vintage Tea Sets
Silver
Mid-20th Century German Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Classical Greek Tea Sets
Gold
1880s Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Pewter
20th Century French Louis XV Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Danish Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Unknown Folk Art Tea Sets
Fabric
1950s Dutch Vintage Tea Sets
Pewter
Matte finish steel,made in Denmark
20th Century Danish Tea Sets
Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Stainless Steel
Antique, New and Vintage Tea Sets
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.