The Pierced Teapot & Tea Cup With Pierced Saucer manufactured by Hartley Greens & Co Leeds Pottery

Pierced Teapot shown here with Tea Cup With Pierced Saucer (Part of the Tea setting) 

Creamware in the 18th and 19th Centuries was particularly well thought of by the emerging 'Middle Class Society'. The wealth created by this society had resulted from the benefits of increased trade during the early part of the English industrial revolution, wealth which continued through to the Victorian era and beyond. The elegance of Creamware was highly admired by society, and on such a basis was highly necessary on the meal table, if you was looking to create the very best impression on your guests. The Middle Class amassed large amounts of this ornate range, with pieces specifically designed for each of the many courses of the meal. Antique and new items of the range are considered to this day to be extremely collectable. The manufacture of Creamware has continued from the 18th Century through to the present day, using the same techniques as the original potters, down to the time consuming piercing, which is still done by hand, each individual cutting is with a preformed tool, potters need a keen eye, and a steady hand to create the delicate patterns necessary to ensure that each intricate pot is truly a work of art.

The pieces shown above are just two from this elegant range. The Pierced Teapot is cylindrical with a concave neck, double intertwined cord handle with  flower, fruit and leaf terminals, the curved spout with similar terminals applied to the base, the lid is pierced with flower and leaf terminals. The pot has a double wall, the outer one pierced with an openwork pattern and moulded cable corners. The Tea Cup has a plain bowl shape with bead border and ribbed double intertwined loop handle and flower and leaf terminals. The Saucer is  pierced with an openwork pattern, the edges are beaded. Openwork pottery often described as pierced ware, was particularly treasured by the higher and middle classes in 18th Century Britain, who would set out elaborate table settings for their guests. 

Tea Parties took place in the evening. Tea was usually served at this time rather than the afternoon. It was universally drunk even by the poor who bought adulterated varieties and not Bohea or the Souchong of the wealthy. Used tea could be bought from the back door of good houses. Miss Thackery, a daughter of a Cambridge Surgeon wrote that 'a cow which we kept in a field supplied us with plenty of cream for tea, and we always had common cake in cut. Thus was frugality and hospitality combined, the family was too large for ostentatious luxuries'.

Tea was known to be of benefit on a medicinal basis and is considered to be a major factor in the lack of the mass outbreak of disease in the crowded housing of the poor in the British industrial towns. It is thought that the boiling of water to make tea added to the tea's purifying effects greatly reduced the effect of the lack of hygiene in the squalid conditions of British workers. When taken in comparison with other European cities of high density population and poor sanitation the British faired much better than their neighbors mainly put down to the considerable quantities of tea drunk by them. The only other country that had a similar lack of disease where there was a highly concentrated population in equivalent living conditions was Japan where they were known to drink large quantities of tea.

Examples of Tea Ware can be seen in museums throughout the world, and in England local to the old pottery site at Temple Newsam House Leeds. The current production of these exquisite pieces can be purchased in the Leeds Pottery shop at www.worldwideshoppingmall.co.uk see this and many other historic items at the Mall. 

Do search out the History Books!