Modern Tea Sets
The late 19th and early 20th centuries saw sweeping social change and major scientific advances — both of which contributed to a new aesthetic: modernism. Rejecting the rigidity of Victorian artistic conventions, modernists sought a new means of expression. References to the natural world and ornate classical embellishments gave way to the sleek simplicity of the Machine Age. Architect Philip Johnson characterized the hallmarks of modernism as “machine-like simplicity, smoothness or surface [and] avoidance of ornament.”
Early practitioners of modernist design include the De Stijl (“The Style”) group, founded in the Netherlands in 1917, and the Bauhaus School, founded two years later in Germany.
Followers of both groups produced sleek, spare designs — many of which became icons of daily life in the 20th century. The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics. While Bauhaus principals Marcel Breuer and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe created furniture from mass-produced, chrome-plated steel, American visionaries like Charles and Ray Eames worked in materials as novel as molded plywood and fiberglass. Today, Breuer’s Wassily chair, Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair — crafted with his romantic partner, designer Lilly Reich — and the Eames lounge chair are emblems of progressive design and vintage originals are prized cornerstones of collections.
It’s difficult to overstate the influence that modernism continues to wield over designers and architects — and equally difficult to overstate how revolutionary it was when it first appeared a century ago. But because modernist furniture designs are so simple, they can blend in seamlessly with just about any type of décor. Don’t overlook them.
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1950s German Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Stainless Steel
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Glass
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Stone, Silver, Brass, Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Tea Sets
Onyx
Mid-20th Century Mexican Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
2010s Malaysian Modern Tea Sets
Copper
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Glass
1980s Japanese Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Danish Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Stone, Silver, Silver Plate, Brass
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Metal, Gold Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Stainless Steel
Late 20th Century Unknown Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic, Rattan
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Stone, Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary South African Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Colombian Modern Tea Sets
Gold
1970s French Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Glass
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Glass
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Stone, Gold Plate, Brass
1970s Japanese Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1980s German Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Metal, Gold Plate
1980s French Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Metal, Silver Plate
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Silver Plate
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Brass, Gold Plate
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Brass, Silver
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Stainless Steel
2010s Turkish Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Turkish Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
Mid-20th Century Mexican Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
20th Century French Modern Tea Sets
Silver
21st Century and Contemporary French Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
Late 20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Metal, Stainless Steel
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
19th Century English Antique Modern Tea Sets
Silver Plate
2010s Malaysian Modern Tea Sets
Copper
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
2010s Palestinian Modern Tea Sets
Blown Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1960s Central Asian Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
20th Century Swedish Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic