Sipping from Spode: Tea Time in the South
Monday, April 1st 2024
Holiday Tours at Historic Columbia not only bring cheer to visitors but also to the curatorial staff, who have a chance to highlight interesting pieces in the collection that are not often at the forefront of our regular tours. This past holiday season, we placed a beautiful green and yellow porcelain tea set on exhibit to show the traditions of a white, upper-class family on Christmas morning. The tea set is currently on display in the Hampton-Preston Mansion, one of our historic house museums that focuses interpretation on the daily life of the Hampton and Preston family members as well as the enslaved workers who unwillingly labored on the property.
At the end of the holiday season, we removed the garland and sugared fruits, but chose to leave the tea set on exhibit and make it a more prominent feature in the parlor. The tea set’s new placement now gives our guests the opportunity to learn more about the practice of drinking tea in the 1800s and the individuals who most often partook: women.
While today we can buy tea for a few dollars, tea in the mid-19th century was an expensive luxury. Imported primarily from India and China, tea was typically enjoyed by those of higher status. Enslaved people may have been able to purchase small quantities of tea or have it gifted to them by their enslavers during the holidays. However, they would have to prepare and serve themselves, and it would not be enjoyed from a matching tea set such as this.
Our tea table is set with two types of (faux) French pastries that were popular in the mid-1800s: petit fours and madeleines. In Vol. 98 of Godey’s Lady’s Book (a popular women’s magazine of the time), “madelines” [sic], chocolate cake, and tea sandwiches with marmalade were among several suggested recipes for teatime delicacies. Enslaved cooks prepared the tea and food in a kitchen outbuilding—like the one that once stood behind the Hampton-Preston Mansion—while enslaved parlor maids set the table with sugar, milk, and lemon slices. Tea was typically served around 4 o’clock, which gave the white women of the house and their guests time to discuss topics such as society goings-on, current events, and politics. In addition to typically “female” topics of discussion, such as fashion and parties, by the late 1850s women were potentially discussing the impending Civil War, the potential secession of South Carolina, and the influx of immigrants from Europe to the state.
While the tea set on display in the Hampton-Preston Mansion was not owned by the Hamptons or the Prestons, they would have enjoyed their tea out of a style similar to this one. This set, a permanent piece of Historic Columbia’s object collection , was made by the Spode company in Stoke-on-Trent, England. Josiah Spode (1733-1797) founded his eponymous pottery in 1770. He spent more than 20 years trying to duplicate the formula for Chinese porcelain—known as “Stoke china” or “Stone china”—and his achievement revolutionized the fine china industry in England. According to the Spode Society, the shapes of the dishes and the maker’s marks on the pieces indicate that it was made some time between 1805 and 1820. Around 1803, Spode began producing the floral pattern (Pattern 357) that appears on these dishes. Spode’s inspiration often derived from Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, which is likely the case here.
Visit the Hampton-Preston Mansion to learn more about those who lived and labored within the home. While on tour, please take a moment to appreciate how a tea set like this one was produced while also considering the differences between the lives of the people who prepared tea from the lives of those who sat in the parlor to enjoy it.
Historic House Tours
How does 200 years of history fit under four roofs? Come see as we take you on a journey through our four historic house museums in the heart of the Robert Mills Historic District. Our houses explore the early 19th through mid-20th centuries.