Tea Sets
1770s English Rococo Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1980s English Vintage Tea Sets
Porcelain
1770s Georgian Antique Tea Sets
Creamware, Pottery
18th Century Edwardian Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1860s American Antique Tea Sets
Silver, Sterling Silver
19th Century French Louis Philippe Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1880s English Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
2010s Turkish Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1960s Chinese Chinoiserie Vintage Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Unknown Victorian Tea Sets
Silver Plate
Late 19th Century Unknown Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Silver Plate
1920s English Art Deco Vintage Tea Sets
Creamware
1950s English George I Vintage Tea Sets
Silver, Sterling Silver
Early 1900s Latvian Neoclassical Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
20th Century Bohemian Tea Sets
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Dutch Tea Sets
Silver
1970s French Vintage Tea Sets
Silver Plate
Mid-20th Century French Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
1790s British Neoclassical Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century Tea Sets
Silver, Silver Plate
1940s English Art Deco Vintage Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1940s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century German Post-Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
Late 19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Tea Sets
Silver Plate, Sterling Silver
Late 18th Century English George III Antique Tea Sets
Tin
1720s Vietnamese Qing Antique Tea Sets
Ceramic, Porcelain
1920s Iraqi Vintage Tea Sets
Silver
18th Century Chinese Edo Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1910s English Arts and Crafts Vintage Tea Sets
Pewter
17th Century Japanese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
18th Century Chinese Qing Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1750s Scottish George II Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century American Late Victorian Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Early 19th Century French Restauration Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
19th Century Japanese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
19th Century English Chinoiserie Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1970s Mexican Mid-Century Modern Vintage Tea Sets
Silver Plate, Steel
1790s German Neoclassical Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1890s German Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Swedish Scandinavian Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1980s French French Provincial Vintage Tea Sets
Faience
1870s English Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1920s Austrian Art Deco Vintage Tea Sets
Metal
1820s English Rococo Revival Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
Late 19th Century French Louis XV Antique Tea Sets
Vermeil, Sterling Silver
Late 19th Century Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1960s Hungarian Vintage Tea Sets
Porcelain
Early 20th Century French Art Deco Tea Sets
Silver Plate
Late 20th Century Swedish Tea Sets
Porcelain
Early 20th Century European Art Deco Tea Sets
Silver Plate
1930s German Art Deco Vintage Tea Sets
Metal
Mid-20th Century American Scandinavian Modern Tea Sets
Silver Plate, Pewter
19th Century Indian Anglo-Indian Antique Tea Sets
Brass, Copper
Late 20th Century Japanese Post-Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
Early 20th Century Japanese Showa Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-19th Century English Early Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Ceramic
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.