Tea Sets
20th Century American Art Nouveau Tea Sets
Silver
20th Century French Louis XV Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century American Georgian Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1770s English Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
20th Century Tea Sets
Silver
20th Century German Brutalist Tea Sets
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century American Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Silver Plate
20th Century Tea Sets
Porcelain
1890s Chinese Chinese Export Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Early 1900s English Edwardian Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1790s British Neoclassical Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Late 19th Century English Country Antique Tea Sets
Ceramic
1940s Italian Mid-Century Modern Vintage Tea Sets
Earthenware
Mid-20th Century Japanese Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Alpaca
1890s English Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Silver, Sterling Silver
1950s German Vintage Tea Sets
Copper
1970s Russian Vintage Tea Sets
Silver, Enamel
1860s English Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Early 20th Century Chinese Qing Tea Sets
Ceramic
20th Century French Islamic Tea Sets
Silver Plate
1980s Italian Post-Modern Vintage Tea Sets
Ceramic
1920s Iraqi Vintage Tea Sets
Silver
1840s English Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Late 19th Century Russian Art Nouveau Antique Tea Sets
Silver
1910s French Renaissance Vintage Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
19th Century French Louis XVI Antique Tea Sets
Silver
1980s German Vintage Tea Sets
Metal
1930s English Art Deco Vintage Tea Sets
Pottery
1920s French Art Deco Vintage Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Mid-20th Century British Tea Sets
Silver Plate
1810s English George III Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-18th Century Dutch Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1920s English Art Deco Vintage Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century North American Tea Sets
Porcelain
20th Century Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Late 19th Century American Aesthetic Movement Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1920s Chinese Chinese Export Vintage Tea Sets
Silver
Mid-20th Century Space Age Tea Sets
Steel
1940s American Mid-Century Modern Vintage Tea Sets
Stainless Steel, Chrome
19th Century Chinese Other Antique Tea Sets
Silver
Mid-20th Century Portuguese Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
19th Century Russian Japonisme Antique Tea Sets
Silver, Enamel
2010s Italian Tea Sets
Gold
1880s Japanese Japonisme Antique Tea Sets
Silver, Bronze
1950s German Mid-Century Modern Vintage Tea Sets
Porcelain
1970s German Vintage Tea Sets
Bone
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Stone, Silver, Silver Plate, Brass
20th Century Tea Sets
Silver
20th Century Chinese Other Tea Sets
Silver
Mid-20th Century Italian Post-Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Mid-19th Century English Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Gold, Silver
Mid-20th Century English Japonisme Tea Sets
Porcelain
Early 1800s English George III Antique Tea Sets
Copper
Mid-20th Century Portuguese Mid-Century Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1930s Unknown Art Deco Vintage Tea Sets
Silver
1970s Italian Modern Vintage Tea Sets
Ceramic
20th Century Tea Sets
Porcelain
Early 1900s Danish Art Nouveau Antique Tea Sets
Silver Plate
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.