The Robinsons take tea

A silver-plated tea set has been in my family since the start of the 20th century (Figure 1). I will briefly examine its provenance and then discuss its personal and social significance. Finally, I will offer some thoughts about its possible future.

The tea set is silvery metal and includes a teapot, sugar bowl, and milk jug. Each object has the same engraved pattern of interlocking leaves around a central shield. The shield on one side is engraved with the letter ‘R’, which I assume is a monogram for the surname Robinson. The set is in good condition, except for a break in the teapot’s handle.

A trademark under the teapot shows that it was made by Shaw and Fisher, a company that operated in Sheffield from the early 19th century until 1894 when it ceased business.1 It specialised in manufacturing tableware made from Brittania metal, a pewter alloy with the appearance of silver (Figure 2). The Robinson tea set does not appear to be pewter, so it may be silver-plated. It is not actual silver; it attracts a magnet, which pure silver does not. Shaw and Fisher produced tableware in several designs and types, frequently seen in online auction houses and on eBay. I have not been able to find an object the same as the Robinson tea set, but there are many like it. The number ‘9770’ is engraved on the bottom of the teapot, which may be a manufacturer’s design code.

Figure 1: Silverplated Tea Set. Trademark Inserted
Figure 2: Shaw and Fisher Advertisement 1882 (Grace’s Guide to British Industrial History)

Shaw and Fisher’s trading period aligns with ownership of the tea set by my grandfather, Wentworth Robinson, who was born in India in 1877. A photograph in a family album shows Wentworth, his wife Lilian and their child Phyllis sitting at a table in a garden taking tea. They appear to be using the Robinson tea set, with Lilian pouring from the teapot and her daughter Phyllis reaching towards the sugar bowl. The milk jug is on the table before Lilian’s left arm, and my grandfather is about to drink from a small cup (Figures 3 & 4). Phyllis was born in 1905 and appears to be about 5 years old, so the photograph was likely taken in 1910.

Fig 3: Wentworth & Lilian Robinson with Phyllis
Fig 4: Detail showing tea set

According to family lore, Wentworth Robinson was not wealthy but a man of affectation and eccentricity. I can imagine that the purchase of what must have been an expensive tea set and the somewhat ostentatious engraving of his monogram on its side would fit his personality. Correspondence from my grandmother shows that he was restless and impetuous, going from one job to another until he finally left the family.2 The tea set is one of the only objects we have to remind us of him.

There are no receipts for the purchase of the tea set, but I suspect that it was bought in Kolkata, where the family was living, around the start of the 20th century. While the evidence points to original ownership by Wentworth, it is possible that the tea set was actually acquired by his father, William Robinson. Although only a railway employee, William was relatively ‘well off’, according to my grandmother, having won a lottery in Kolkata.3 William may have bought the tea set and had it monogrammed to display his newfound wealth. He died in 1903, and Wentworth might have inherited it after his father’s death. This remains only a possibility, as no direct evidence supports it.

Tea drinking is a ‘quintessentially English ritual’.4 The origins of tea consumption reach back to China in the 4th century, but the subject of some conjecture is why it became a popular beverage in Britain. It became firmly established in Britain in the 17th century, first popular with the aristocracy and in exclusive clubs, later developing into a national pastime.5

Tea consumption took on a different form in a British setting. Whereas the Chinese practice was drinking green tea in small bowls, the British preferred black tea and drank it hotter in cups with handles. British drinkers also preferred tea with sugar and milk, and this is reflected in the addition of sugar bowls and creamers, or milk jugs, to the traditional tea set.6 This is illustrated by the Robinson tea set, which consists of a teapot, sugar bowl, and milk jug. The original set may have included cups and saucers, as seen in the photograph, but they have been lost.

The Robinson tea set was used for its original purpose only briefly during my grandparents’ lifetimes. I cannot remember seeing my parents ever use it to serve tea. I do remember tea being consumed often in our household, but this was usually from a large porcelain teapot, complete with tea cosy and served in large cups or mugs. The Robinson teapot would have been too small to accommodate our family’s larger group of tea drinkers.

The nature of tea drinking also changed between my grandparents’ and parents’ generations. When Wentworth and Lilian used the tea set, taking tea was a social pastime that also reflected the status of the participants. In British India, it would have also served to differentiate the British from the Indians and even the separate strata within Anglo-Indian society. However, by my parents’ generation, these sociopolitical aspects of tea drinking had disappeared, along with the British Empire.

When we moved to Australia, the tea set was consigned to a cabinet in my parents’ lounge room, occasionally used by children in imaginary tea parties. I have now inherited it, and it will be similarly left unused for drinking tea but displayed, remarked upon, and brought out for children to enjoy. Perhaps they will form a similar attachment to mine, and the tea set will continue to be a tangible reminder of who we are, where we came from, and what we used to be.

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Notes

  1. Jack L Scott, Pewter Wares from Sheffield, Baltimore, 1980. ↩︎
  2. Lilian Robinson to Betty Lazard [letter], 26 August 1974, p 3. ↩︎
  3. Lilian Robinson to Betty Lazard [letter], 26 August 1974, p 2. ↩︎
  4. Julie E Fromer, ‘”Deeply indebted to the tea-plant”: representations of English national identity in Victorian histories of tea’, Victorian Literature and Culture, 2008, 36: 531-547, p 539. ↩︎
  5. Gordon DeWolf, Jr, ‘Notes on the history of tea’, Arnoldia, 1971, 31(1): 20-23. ↩︎
  6. PM Guerty & Kevin Switaj, ‘Tea, porcelain, and sugar in the British Atlantic World’, OAH Magazine of History, 2004, 18(3): 56-59, p 58; Woodruff D Smith, ‘Complications of the commonplace: tea, sugar and imperialism, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1992, 23(2): 259-278, p 263. ↩︎

Bibliography

DeWolf, G Jr, ‘Notes on the history of tea’, Arnoldia, 1971, 31(1): 20-23.
Fromer, JA, ‘”Deeply indebted to the tea-plant”: representations of English national identity in Victorian histories of tea’, Victorian Literature and Culture, 2008, 36: 531-547.
Gracesguide.co.uk.
Guerty, PM & Kevin Switaj, ‘Tea, porcelain, and sugar in the British Atlantic World’, OAH Magazine of History, 2004, 18(3): 56-59
Lazard, H, Lazard Family Photo Album, France.
Scott, JL, Pewter Wares From Sheffield, Antiquary Press, Baltimore, 1980 (Cited in Shaw & Fisher, accessed 28/11/24).
Smith, WD, ‘Complications of the commonplace: tea, sugar and imperialism, The Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 1992, 23(2): 259-278.