Tea for Two: British and American Tea Traditions
– Lu Yu 780 AD
British and American tea traditions share Chinese roots. First touted as medicinal, tea drinking flourished in the West when it became social. This social activity took place in the home, and women of every class participated. Men may have entertained their guests at the dining table or out at the tavern or coffeehouse, but the parlor and all its tea equipment was the domain of women. Tea expanded the realm of female consumerism into silver, porcelain, and furniture for the home. This tea equipage, as it was then called, may have included a hot water urn and a teapot for the table, and a teacup, a saucer, and a plate for bread and butter for each guest. The teaspoon, small enough to fit in a cup, soon came into being. A well-appointed table also included a caddy to store the tea, a sugar bowl and tongs, a cream pitcher, and a waste bowl for the dregs.
The tea tables and display cases in this gallery showcase the finely-crafted tea services that once belonged to local Savannahians. The popularity of tea drinking had a direct connection to the growth of the British pottery and porcelain industry and the prosperity of such companies as Lowestoft, New Hall, and Rockingham. American merchants imported and sold British-made porcelain ware. British and American silversmiths also designed and made complete tea services to satisfy their discriminating tea-drinking customers.
This exhibition is organized by Telfair Museums and curated by Cyndi Sommers, Assistant Curator of Decorative Arts.
TEA IN BRITISH AMERICA
There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea.
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
In 1664, the British East India Company began to import Chinese tea into England, while Dutch traders were bringing tea directly from China to America. By the time Britain acquired New Amsterdam (now New York) in 1667, they found the colonists already drinking more tea than the whole of Britain. The British consumption of tea caught up quickly, and the East India Company began importing vast quantities of tea to the American colonies as well.
Tea was not only popular, but also very profitable. It was no coincidence that the Sons of Liberty began their rebellion against the British government’s Tea Act by dumping crates of tea into Boston Harbor. The Tea Act of 1773 was a British law designed to support the East India Company by reducing its import fees and granting a monopoly of trade to the British colonies. This law was condemned by American colonists who had to pay import taxes. “No Taxation without Representation” became the battle cry of their revolution. Disguised as American Indians, on December 16, 1773, a band of revolutionaries destroyed an entire shipment of tea imported by the East India Company. In 1774, Parliament responded with the Intolerable Acts, which ended local self-government in Massachusetts. The crisis escalated, and the Revolutionary War began near Boston in 1775.
TEA TRADITIONS EVOLVE
There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. – Henry James
By 1850 in Britain, the boom of the industrial revolution had lengthened the work day. Workers were no longer home by six o’clock, so the time between lunch and dinner was now much longer. Both workers and those at home were in need of a mid-afternoon repast, and afternoon tea became common practice across all classes of British society. Low tea was served simply and included a light snack. High tea refers to a more substantial meal, served at the dining table.
The United States was still very much an agrarian economy at this time. It was the transportation revolution of steamboats and railroads later in the 19th century that propelled U.S. manufacturing. It wasn’t until after the Civil War that afternoon tea became common, and the tea party became a popular social occasion for all ages.
The 20th century brought new innovations to the tea industry. Iced tea was popularized during the 1904 St. Louis World Fair, and tea bags invented soon after. Today, iced tea represents 80 percent of all tea served in the United States. If you are drinking iced tea here in Savannah, it’s sure to be sweet tea—our culinary symbol of Southern culture.