Week 11: Mar. 17, 2024

Cup and Saucer, Salver and Cream Jug, England (Staffordshire), ca. 1750-65, Variegated earthenware with lead glaze

Cuppa?

I have always loved tea cups. My mother collected tea cups and saucers and I received several lovely asian-style tea cup sets as gifts from the Korean parents who’s children attended the school I directed. I appreciate pottery for it’s need to be both practical and aesthetically pleasing at the same time.

I was intrigued by a number of qualities about this set. First, the colors and design are beautiful. As I was marveling at how much I loved the look of it, I noticed it was made with lead glaze - and began wondering, historically speaking, how much negative impact lead glaze had on the tea-drinking community before it was recognized as a danger. Next I noticed that the cup, like those in my asian-style tea cup sets, had no handles. The notes shared that the British added handles on their tea cups later, after initially modeling them after the Chinese samples that were sent over with the tea that was imported. So interesting how information was shared before telephones and the internet! And, finally, I loved that the British developed a cream jug to doctor-up their tea to what has now become a classic British style. And the cream jug had a handle from the very beginning!

The Salver, a piece I had not heard of before, is akin to a trivet. It is meant to protect the table from hot items, like the tea pot, that are set on it.