Tea was introduced to Britain in the 1650s. Its popularity burgeoned over the following two-and-a-half centuries, until it became a defining feature of British culture. Drawing inspiration from China, British craftsmen worked to display their skills on numerous tea-related objects, which ritualised the process of drinking tea. Calling on an array of different materials and techniques, they developed a huge variety of canisters and lockable containers for storing and preserving this precious commodity. Tea chests and caddies were not merely functional items that might lurk at the back of the kitchen – they were intended for display. As the habit of tea drinking filtered down the social scale, caddies were made in larger numbers and in more affordable forms.

Join Kate Richenburg as she speaks to us about a great range of decorative antique tea containers from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Alongside a career in publishing, Kate has researched these items for more than 30 years, looking at their making and their wider social context. In doing so, she has visited topics as diverse as eighteenth-century women’s magazines and Napoleonic prisoners-of-war. She has also contributed to the definitive book on the subject, which was published in 2022.

If anyone owns an antique tea container and would like to bring it or a photo of it along, Kate will be happy to try to add to the owner’s knowledge of the piece.

Georgettes of Oxford
Georgettes (GEOrgian & Regency GET-together, Talk and dancE Society) of Oxford is a local community group formed in March 2023 open to all people with an interest in the 18th and early 19th century in and around Oxford; and have also provided 18th Century dancers and extras for Channel 5’s Buckingham Palace with Alexander Armstrong, and have performance on the BBC. Our programme of free talks have covered a variety of subjects including: Romantic painters, data science analysis of Regency novels and historical costuming.