- Museum number
- C194.8A
C194.8B - Object
- Tea bowl and saucer, soft-paste porcelain, Chelsea Porcelain Factory, 1752-1756
- Description
- a) Tea bowl and saucer, English, Chelsea, 1752-8. Soft-paste porcelain decorated in enamel colours. The body of the bowl delicately flared at the rim, no handle, the rim edged in brown, the outside of the bowl decorated with Meissen-type flowers, one large spray including purple rose, three individual flowers, one tiny flower, small leaf spray in centre of the bowl. b) The plain saucer flat across the centre, decorated in similar manner with one large spray of flowers, four small individual flowers with leaves, one tiny flower, brown rim.Surface worn and slightly discoloured.
- Materials
- Porcelain
- Inscription
- Red anchor on both bowl and saucer
- On display?
- Yes
Further description
- Simple name
- Cup
Saucer - Subject
- Naturalistic
- Dimensions
- regular: 4.0cm (w)
Tea bowl and saucer
Chelsea Porcelain Factory
Soft-paste porcelain, between 1752 and 1756
C194
Tea is our National Drink. It’s drunk by everyone. In the eighteenth century it was an expensive luxury. To drink it was to make a statement about how rich and fashionable you were. It was responsibility of the mistress of the house to make and serve the tea. She held the key for the tea chest. Green tea was initially preferred but by the 1720s, cheaper black tea had become more popular. Boiling water was supplied from a tea kettle.
New forms appeared for serving and drinking the new hot drinks. Cups of different shapes were used to drink tea, coffee and hot chocolate. Tea pots were small and squat. Coffee pots were conical or pear-shaped.
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