Tea Sets
18th Century Japanese Edo Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Japanese Edo Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1770s Georgian Antique Tea Sets
Creamware, Pottery
1770s Georgian Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1770s English George III Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
18th Century Chinese Qing Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Japanese Edo Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
Early 18th Century Chinese Chinese Export Antique Tea Sets
Other
Late 18th Century Chinese Chinoiserie Antique Tea Sets
Silver
17th Century Japanese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Japanese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Japanese Meiji Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1770s English Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1770s Antique Tea Sets
Silver
1780s English George III Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1770s English George III Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
18th Century Japanese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1730s English George II Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1720s Vietnamese Chinoiserie Antique Tea Sets
Ceramic, Porcelain
1720s Vietnamese Qing Antique Tea Sets
Ceramic, Porcelain
1780s English Neoclassical Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1770s English Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Mid-18th Century English Antique Tea Sets
Silver Plate
17th Century Chinese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Chinese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
Late 18th Century Japanese Antique Tea Sets
Enamel, Copper
1750s Scottish George II Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
18th Century Chinese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century French Louis XVI Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1760s English George III Antique Tea Sets
Terracotta
1750s English Rococo Antique Tea Sets
Silver
1770s Antique Tea Sets
Silver
18th Century Italian Louis XVI Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Antique Tea Sets
Silver
1750s Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1770s English Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1730s English George II Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1740s English Rococo Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Late 18th Century British Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Chinese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Swedish Antique Tea Sets
Silver
Late 18th Century English Neoclassical Antique Tea Sets
Stoneware
1770s English Georgian Antique Tea Sets
Creamware, Pottery
18th Century Japanese Edo Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
1750s English Georgian Antique Tea Sets
Stoneware
18th Century English Antique Tea Sets
Ceramic, Pearlware
1760s English George III Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century European Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century English Victorian Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
18th Century Japanese Edo Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
17th Century Chinese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
Late 18th Century English Empire Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Chinese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
Late 18th Century English Regency Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Chinese Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
18th Century Antique Tea Sets
Silver
1780s British Neoclassical Antique Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
17th Century Edo Antique Tea Sets
Porcelain
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.