A red stoneware tea set made in England in the 1840s, when drinking tea became ubiquitous. Courtesy British Museum
A red stoneware tea set made in England in the 1840s, when drinking tea became ubiquitous. Courtesy British Museum
A red stoneware tea set made in England in the 1840s, when drinking tea became ubiquitous. Courtesy British Museum
A red stoneware tea set made in England in the 1840s, when drinking tea became ubiquitous. Courtesy British Museum

A History of the World in 100 Objects: Victorian tea set

The tea set is historically significant because it was made in England in the mid-1850s, a time when the consumption of tea in Europe quadrupled.

Anna Seaman

July 21, 2014

  • English
  • Arabic

It is significant because it was made between 1840 and 1845, around the time that tea, which started out as a luxury product that came to Europe from China via Holland, was becoming a product of mass consumption.

And this simple object, originally moderately priced, carries with it several elements of European history: in Britain between 1840 and 1900, the consumption of tea and sugar quadrupled and huge tea plantations were developed by the British in India and Sri Lanka. By this time, many people were living in cities and for them to enjoy tea the English way, with a dash of milk, dairy farms moved closer to urban areas – something that would not have been possible before the invention of the railway.

• Each Tuesday, Arts&Life will ­focus on one artefact on show as part of A ­History of the World in 100 Objects, an ­exhibition running until August 1 at Manarat Al ­Saadiyat, Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi

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