Traditions In Elegance

WILTON, CONN. -- The Wilton Historical Society is hosting a traveling exhibition sure to pique the interest of tea drinkers, collectors and Anglophiles alike. "Traditions In Elegance: 100 Teapots from the Norwich Castle Museum" continues through August 25. The 100 teapots in this exhibition are the finest examples culled from the Norwich Castle Museum's Twining Teapot Gallery and its remarkable collection of 3,000 teapots.

The exhibition explores the custom of tea preparation and tea drinking in English life through its most prominent object, the teapot, during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. In conjunction with this special exhibition, the period rooms of the Sloan-Raymond-Fitch House, the headquarters of the Wilton Historical Society, interpret tea drinking as a social custom in America from the Colonial period through the Nineteenth Century. The historical society's own fine collection of teapots and related tea equipment is on display, accented by rarely seen objects on loan from private collectors.

Tea was first introduced to Europe in the Seventeenth Century, although it had been known in Asia long before that. It is believed that Catherine of Braganza, the Portuguese wife of Charles II of England, introduced tea to the English court and helped make it a fashionable beverage.

Originally, tea was hailed for its reputed medicinal properties. Tea was believed to be effective for the treatment of a variety of diseases and ailments, "including headaches, giddiness, heaviness, colds, dropsies, scurvies, agues, and fevers." Soon the medicinal properties were superseded by the sheer delight of sipping the rare and exotic beverage, using fine porcelain cups and other equipment that had never been seen in England before. However, limited supplies of tea and its prohibitive cost made it a luxury only the wealthiest segments of society could afford.

Part of the attraction of tea drinking lay in the beautiful and delicate equipment necessary for serving. Teapots and tea cups and saucers were included in cargoes sent from China to England. The English were delighted by the wonderful and delicate porcelain from which the tea equipment was made. They had never seen such a fine material and instantly set out to discover the secret and reproduce this quality in their own ceramics. Although the English were able to copy patterns and styles, they were unable to create a porcelain as strong as those made in Asia. English shop owners frequently complained that the teapots manufactured in England were "flying" - meaning that the teapots broke when hot water was poured into them.

The introduction of hard-paste porcelain from Asia presented a challenge to the manufacturers of English ceramics. It became an issue of national pride to equal the quality of the imported porcelain. In 1765, William Cookworthy discovered the secret of Chinese hard-paste porcelain, setting up a factory for its manufacture in Bristol. Although his factory was not successful, his patent marks a turning point in the history of English porcelain.

In the American colonies, it was a relatively small segment of the population that could afford the high cost of tea and had the leisure considered necessary for consuming the beverage. By the mid-Eighteenth Century, as tea supplies increased and the cost decreased, a larger segment of the population in America began to consume the beverage. Joseph Bennett observed in Boston in 1740, "The ladies here visit, drink tea, and indulge every little piece of gentility to the height of the mode and neglect the affairs of their families with as good grace as the finest ladies in London."

When England imposed the Townsend Act in 1767, which placed a duty on tea and other commodities, patriotic colonists chose to boycott tea rather than pay the tax. Nevertheless, many Americans who had made tea drinking a cherished interval in their day were willing to pay the tax in order to maintain the luxury. By 1773, the British decided to enforce the tax and the tea boycott turned physical. A group of Bostonians dressed as Indians boarded English ships and dumped the cargo of tea into the harbor. Not only did this action signify the colonists unwillingness to pay the duty, but it also prevented those who cared more for tea than the revolutionary movement from partaking of the beverage. The British Parliament responded swiftly by closing the port of Boston, thereby cutting the town off from the rest of the world.

Many Americans throughout the colonies abstained from tea as a show of support for the suffering in Boston. Tea drinking was not a habit that died easily among even the most patriotic Americans. John Adams wrote to his wife, Abigail, in July 16, 1774:

"When I first came to this house it was late in the Afternoon, and I had ridden 35 miles at least. `Madam,' said I to Mrs Hutton, `is it lawfull for a weary Traveller to refresh himself with a Dish of Tea provided it has been honestly smuggled, or paid no Duties?' `No sir, said she, we have renounced all Tea in the Place I cant make Tea, but I'le make you Coffee.' Accordingly I have drank Coffee every afternoon since, and have borne it very well. Tea must be universally renounced. I must be weaned, and the sooner, the better."

After the Revolution, tea returned as a popular beverage in America. Tea was served socially in the afternoon to family, friends and acquaintances. The mistress of the house took a great deal of pride in presenting an attractive tea table. Porcelain teapots with matching cups and saucers, sugar bowl and creamer of elegant design and decoration contributed to the overall appeal of the tea ritual. Silver tea sets were also popular, but they did not include cups and saucers, which would have become too hot when filled with the steeped liquid. Slop bowls of silver or ceramics were also typically part of tea sets as they were used during the tea service to collect any remaining tea and the dregs, which collected at the bottom of the cup.

The lady of the house presided over the tea table, passing cups of tea to her guests. Light refreshments, such as cakes, sweetmeats, fruit and nuts might be offered. Once guests had drunk their fill of tea, they would place their tea spoon in their cup to indicate that they wanted no more tea.

The tea ceremony was a pleasant way in which family, friends and neighbors could socialize in a less formal manner. It also provided an avenue for young men and women to meet and mingle under the watchful eye of their elders. Frequently, tea parties might extend into the evening with entertainment in the form of dancing, singing, music playing or cards.

Tea remained an important social event into the Nineteenth Century, when teas could either be formal evening affairs or casual gatherings in the late afternoon.

In the Federal period, new forms of teapots appeared in response to the demands of consumers, who craved fashionable shapes and styles. As a result, there was rampant copying of forms and patterns by competing potters who did not wish to lose out on the latest trend.

Despite the variety of porcelain forms, silver was the most popular tea-set material by the Victorian. Silver had always been an indication of wealth within a family, but the discovery of electroplating in the Nineteenth Century made silver tea services affordable to the middle class. Coupled with advances in machine technology, intricately patterned silver motifs could be applied to any silver form, creating elaborate and highly fashionable forms, which could change with the prevailing taste.

Whereas tea was an event attended by mixed company in the Eighteenth and early Nineteenth Century, by the Victorian period tea parties, they became primarily the domain of women and provided a vehicle for women to become acquainted with one another, provide a means of escaping the isolation of their homes and exchange news, or more specifically - gossip. In 1852, Julia Lambert wrote her sister-in-law, Esther, in Wilton, Conn., who had just become pregnant for the first time at age 42, that she was "the talk of the tea table."

Whether it is the changing forms of tea equipment or the evolution of the tea ceremony since its introduction to Western Europe, tea has played a fascinating role in the social and economic history of the United States. Today, tea drinking reminds us of a less hectic period when one could sit and leisurely enjoy a cup of tea with friends while exchanging friendly chatter. Perhaps the recent revival of interest in tea is meant to relive the pleasant afternoons of past times or, as the English poet William Cowper, wrote:

The historical society is open Tuesday through Thursday, from 10 am to 4 pm, and Sundays, from 1 to 4 pm, at 249 Danbury Road in Wilton. Admission is a contribution of $2.

This exhibition from the Twining Teapot Gallery at the Castle Museum in Norwich, England was organized by the Norfolk Museum Services, R. Twining and Company, Ltd, and the Morris Museum in Morristown, N.J.

Kathleen Craughwell-Varda is curator of the Wilton Historical Society.