Forty Piece Tea Set

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c. 1890

Subcollections

Overview

Forty Piece White Tea Set, all pieces are decorated in a brown flower and stem
stem pattern with scalloped edges and gold rims and accents;

Part a: Two Cake Platters
Part b: One Milk jug
Part c: One Sugar Basin
Part d: Twelve Tea Cups
Part e: Twelve Saucers
Part f: Twelve Side Plates

Historical information

While drinking tea as a socially high class past time in England is credited to the 17th Century, with the lowering of import taxes on tea in the 19th century, it became the drink of choice by the middle and working classes. Afternoon tea became popular as a light meal in homes or tea houses, where tea was served with sandwiches, scones, cakes and pastries in china or porcelain tea sets or less costly mass produced versions.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-124-2018.34a.b.c.d.e.f.

Item type

Objects

Contextual Information

This Tea Set was a wedding present for William Charles Maidment and Bessie Jane Kemp when they married in 1901 in South Australia. The Tea Set has been passed down through three generations of the Maidment family. The Maidment family had been responsible for introducing the British breed of Shropshire sheep into South Australia and William Charles had carried on trading, mainly livestock, between Western Australia and South Australia from 1896. In 1907 he and his wife and son, Ronald, moved to Capel, Western Australia where they bought a 640 acre property called Paringa and began farming. He bred remounts for the Indian army and had a stud stallion.

Year

c. 1890

Statement of significance

Condition:The tea set which is approximately 124 years old in excellent condition and completeness
Aesthetic: The tea set is visually appealling as an example of the style of softpaste porcelain tea sets used in afternoon social activities in middle class homes in the early 20th Century. It would also be attractive to collectors of Antique tea sets.

Primary significance criteria

Artistic or aesthetic significance

Historic significance

Related Objects

Parent records

CABINET 1.6.1 The Taylor Cabinet

Busselton Historical Society

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