Figure i. — Family Group, by Gawen Hamilton, about 1730. In collection of Colonial Wil- 

 liamsburg, Inc. The tea set, undoubtedly of porcelain, includes cups and saucers, a cream 

 or milk container, and a sugar container with tongs. {Photo courtesy oj Colonial Williamsburg, 

 Inc.) 



hibits, even to the small details such as objects on 

 mantels, tables, and chests, thus further documentinsi; 

 data from newspapers, journals, publications, and 

 writings of the same period. 



In America, as in England, tea had a rather limited 

 use as a social beverage during the early 1700's. 

 Judge Samuel Sewall, the recorder-extraordinary of 

 Boston life at the turn of the 17th century, seems to 

 have mentioned tea only once in his copious diary. 

 In the entry for April 15, 1709, Sewall wrote that he 

 had attended a meeting at the residence of Madam 



W'inthrop where the guests "drunk .\le, Tea. Wine." * 

 At this time ale and wine, in contrast to tea, were 

 fiiirly common drinks. Since tea and the equipment 

 used to serve it were costly, social tea drinking was 

 restricted to the prosperous and governing classes 

 who could afford the luxury. The portrayal of the 

 rotund silver teapot and other tea-drinking equipment 



' .Samuel Sewall, Diary of Samuel Sewall, 7674-7729, reprinted 

 in Cdllectiotts of the Massachusetts Historical Society, 1879, ser. 5, 

 vol. 6, p. 253. 



PAPER 14: TE.^ DRINKING IN 18TH-CENTURY AMERICA 



65 



