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 The modernists rejected both natural and historical references and relied primarily on industrial materials such as metal, glass, plywood, and, later, plastics.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.
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
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
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary South African Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century German Modern Tea Sets
Metal
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Metal, Gold Plate
Mid-20th Century Italian Modern Tea Sets
Silver Plate
1970s French Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Glass
2010s South African Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
21st Century and Contemporary Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Stainless Steel
1960s Central Asian Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1950s German Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Moroccan Modern Tea Sets
Brass
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
Late 20th Century Danish Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
1970s Italian Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary African Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
Mid-20th Century Modern Tea Sets
Metal
1970s American Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Carrara Marble, Steel
1980s Japanese Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Moroccan Modern Tea Sets
Silver Plate, Nickel, Brass
Mid-20th Century Japanese Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Sterling Silver
20th Century Chinese Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Glass
21st Century and Contemporary Italian Modern Tea Sets
Silver Plate
2010s Dutch Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Turkish Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
1990s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Blown Glass
2010s Peruvian Modern Tea Sets
Granite
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Stone, Silver Plate
2010s French Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
1980s English Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Pottery
2010s French Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
1980s Italian Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Ceramic
1960s Unknown Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Silver Plate
1960s German Vintage Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Italian Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Spanish Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Spanish Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Spanish Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Spanish Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain
2010s Spanish Modern Tea Sets
Porcelain