motifs were fashioned in ceramic and silver. No 

 doubt many an 18th-century hostess desired a silver 

 teapot to grace her table and add an elegant air to the 

 tea ceremony. A lottery offering one must have 

 raised many a hope, especially if, as an advertisement 

 of 1727 announced, the "highest Prize consists of an 

 Eight Square Tea-Pot," as well as "six Tea-Spoons, 

 Skimmer and Tongs." By the end of the century "an 

 elegant silver lea-pot with an ornamental lid, re- 

 sembling a Pine-apple" would have been the wish of a 

 fashion-conscious hostess. Less expensive than silver, 

 but just as stylish according to the merchants' adver- 

 tisements were "newest fashion teapots" of pewter or. 

 in the late 18th century, Britannia metal teapots. The 

 latest mode in ceramic ware also was to be found upon 

 the tea table. In the mid-18th century it was "Eng- 

 lish brown China Tea-Pots of Sorts, with a rais'd 

 Flower" (probaijly the ceramic with a deep, rich 

 ijrown glaze known today as Jackfield-type ware), 

 "black," "green and Tortois" (a pottery glazed with 

 varigated colors in imitation of tortoise shell), and 

 "Enameled Stone" teapots. At the time of the Ameri- 

 can Revolution, teaware imports included "Egyptian, 

 Etruscan, emi:)ossed red C'hina, agate, green, black, 

 colliflower, white, and blue and white stone enam- 

 elled, striped, fluted, pierced and plain Queen's ware 

 tea pots." ^** 



Sometimes the teapot, whether ceramic, pewter, or 

 silver, was placed upon a dish or small, tile-like stand 

 with feet. These teapot stands served as insulation 

 by protecting the surface of the table or tray from 

 the damaging heat of the teapot. Stands often were 

 included in tea sets but also were sold indi\ idually, 

 such as the "Pencil'd China . . . tea pot stands," 

 advertised in 1775, and the "teapot stands" of "best 

 London plated ware" imported in 1797.*'" The 

 stands must have been especially useful when silver 

 equipage was set on a bare table top; many of the 

 silver teapots of elliptical shape with a flat base, so 

 popular in the latter part of the 18th century, had 

 matching stands raised on short legs to protect the 

 table from the expanse of hot metal. On occasion 



«8 Quotation.s variously from .\ew-Torh Gazette, April 3, 1727, 

 August 2, 1762; Commercial Advertiser [New York], Oct. 10, 1797; 

 Boston Gazette, ]w\y 26, 1756; New-York Daily Advertiser, May 7, 

 1793; Boston .Nettis-Lelter, October 18, 1750; Pennsylvania Evening 

 Post, July 11, 1776. 



^^ New-I'ork Journal, August ?>, 1775; Nav-Tork Daily Adver- 

 tiser, January 2\, 1797. 



the teapot was placed on a spirit lamp or burner to 

 keep the beverage warm. 



In most instances it was the hot water kettle that 

 sat upon a spirit lamp or burner rather than a tea|3ot. 

 Kettles were usually related to the form of con- 

 temporary teapots, but difiered in basing a swing 

 handle on top and a large, rather flat base that could 

 be placed over the flame. Advertisements mention 

 teakettles of copper, pewter, brass, and silver, some 

 "with lamps and stands." "" The actual making of tea 

 was part of the ceremony and was usually done by 

 the hostess at the tea table. This necessitated a 

 ready supply of boiling water close at hand to properly 

 infuse the tea and, as Ferdinand Eayard reported, it 

 also "weakens the tea or ser\'es to clean up the cups." '' 

 Thtis, the kettle and burner on their own individual 

 table or stand were placed within easy reach of the 

 tea table. According to 18th-century pictures the 

 kettle was an important part of the tea settine, but it 

 seldom appeared on the tea table. Special stands for 

 kettles generally were made in the same form as the 

 tea tables, though smaller in scale (fig. 14). The 

 square stands often had a slide on which to place the 

 teapot when the hot water was poured into it. 



Both pictures and advertisements reveal that by 

 the 1770's the tea urn was a new form appearing at 

 teatime in place of the hot water kettle. Contrary 

 to its name, the tea urn seldom held tea. These large 

 siher or silver-plated vessels, some of which looked 

 like x'ases with domed covers, usually had two handles 

 on the shoulders and a spout with a tap in the front 

 near the bottom. "Ponty pool, japanned, crimson, 

 and gold-striped Roman tea urns" imported from 

 Europe were among the fashionable teawares ad- 

 vertised at the end of the 18th century."^ The urn 

 might be placed on a stand of its own near the table 

 or on the tray or table in tlie midst of the other 

 equipage as it is in the paintint; titled The Honeymoon 

 (fig. 9). \Vherever placed, it signified the newest 

 mode in teatime furnishinsrs. One Baltimorean, 

 O. H. Williams, in a letter dated April 12, 1786, to 

 a close friend, enthusiastically explained that "Tea 



■" Pennsylvania Packet, May 29, 1775; American ]t'eekly Mercury 

 [Philadelphia], January 1736; Boston Gazette, May 3, 1751, and 

 .September 11, 1758; Pennsylvania Journal, August 1, 1771. 



"' Bayard, op. cit. (footnote 36), quoted in .Sherrill, op. cit. 

 (footnotes), p.92. 



"2 New-Tork Daily Advertiser, May 7, 1793. 



88 



BULLETIN 22.S: CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE MUSEUM OF HISTORY' AND TECHNOLOGY 



