TALL = COFFEE; SHORT = TEA. This first coffee & tea service is currently at our downtown boutique, the second was from an earlier sale. Although these probably date to the 1950s, this prescribed collection of matching serving pieces enjoyed over a century of popularity, beginning around the time of Queen Victoria (1837 – 1901) and continuing into the 1970s.
Matching coffee & tea services are proof of an earlier life with enough ‘synchronized downtime’ that people were able to entertain more often than today. So while sterling made a handsome wedding gift, the silverplate versions were not beyond the reach of middle-class families – Sunday brunches, baby showers, bridge games – all times for coffee & tea! A proper set consists of a carrying tray, a TALL coffee pot, a SHORT teapot (some even shorter and squattier than these), a creamer, sugar bowl (lidded or not) and, in older sets a slop bowl for used tea leaves.
Both of these well-made sets incorporate spacers built into the handles on either side of your grip. On pure sterling silver pots these are fine ebony or ivory; on more economical pots they are bone or plastic, depending on vintage. A load-bearing metal core runs through the center, but the non-metal ‘washer’ blocks enough heat to keep the handle of that boiling hot pot cool enough to lift. On the first set, for stylistic purposes, the makers have even imitated the bulge of the washer on the metal handle of the creamer, which only ever holds cold liquid.
Tea was easily brewed directly in the short teapot so some have internal strainers built into their spouts, but coffee, which is a little harder to make well, was done out of sight in the kitchen and then poured into the tall coffee pot to bring out to the guests.
“But what if more guests want tea than coffee,” you ask, “Then wouldn’t I use the bigger pot for tea?” Nope! TALL = COFFEE; SHORT = TEA. This was so consistent for over 100 years that your guests would inherently KNOW which was which and refill their cups accordingly. Incredibly, for the benefit of the novice host or hostess, this first Reed & Barton set here ACTUALLY SPELLS IT OUT ON THE BOTTOM OF THE POTS, just in case you were confused: tall pot = COFFEE; short pot = TEA! And this awesome ceramic Japanese Mid-Century Modern service from another sale was definitely intended for COFFEE – look at the height of that thing!
But WHY? Well, it’s nothing to do with the inherent needs of the beverages themselves so if you want ‘tall tea’, feel free. More likely it’s the history of coffee & tea’s arrival to the west. Coffee is the seed of a berry off a bush native to the Middle East – Yemen and thereabouts. It was first a scholars’ alternate to alcohol, which Islam forbids. The seeds are roasted, ground, and then boiled in tall, thin pots, which let the grounds settle for serving. Both this gorgeous silver-inlaid Egyptian coffee pot and the humbler brass set keep the traditional shape – TALL.
Tea is the dried, sometimes fermented leaf of a camelia shrub native to the Himalayan foothills of India and China. It was first used as medicine and brewed in the squat pots used by doctors for any decoction. As it became a popular drink across Asia, teapots retained that shape, like these Japanese and Chinese examples from past sales – SHORT. As the addictive, habit-forming brews rumbled through Europe like an out-of-control freight train during the 1500 and 1600s, so too did the TALL & SHORT habit. (Mmmm…. coffee…. Ahhh… tea….)
Tuesday Treasures was started by our staff member, Jeanne Lusignan. Each week she will be featuring items that have been found at our estate sales. If you would like to submit a treasure for Jeanne to feature in a future installment of “Tuesday’s Treasures”, please follow the button below and send us an email! Please attach a few photos of your treasure in a beautiful setting as well as any details you have about your item such as manufacturer, use, age, region of origin. If you don’t know about the piece, that’s okay! We still might be able to research it for you! Don’t forget to tell us what makes this item such a treasure to you!