Further verification of the types and kinds of equipage used is supplied by archeological investigations of colonial sites. For instance, sherds or fragments of objects dug from or near the site of a dwelling at Marlborough, Virginia, owned and occupied by John Mercer between 1726 and 1768, included a silver teaspoon made about 1735 and two teapot tops—one a pewter lid and the other a Staffordshire salt-glaze cover made about 1745—as well as numerous pieces of blue-and-white Oriental porcelain cups and saucers ([fig. 7]). Such archeological data provides concrete proof about tea furnishings used in this country. A comparison of sherds from colonial sites with wares used by the English and of English origin indicates that similar types of equipage were to be found upon tea tables in both countries. This also substantiates the already cited American practice of following English modes and manners, a practice Brissot de Warville noted in 1788 when he wrote that in this country “tea forms, as in England, the basis of the principal parties of pleasures.”[[39]]
Figure 7.—Fragments of teacups of Chinese export porcelain with blue decoration on white, excavated at the site of John Mercer’s dwelling at Marlborough, Virginia, 1726-1768. These sherds, now in the United States National Museum, are from cups similar in shape and decoration to the ones depicted in figures 1 and 5. (USNM 59.1890, 59.1969, 59.1786; Smithsonian photo 45141-G.)
Tea furnishings, when in use, were to be seen upon rectangular tables with four legs, square-top and circle-top tripods, and Pembroke tables. Such tables were, of course, used for other purposes, but a sampling of 18th-century Boston inventories reveals that in some households all or part of the tea paraphernalia was prominently displayed on the tea table rather than being stored in cupboards or closets. A “Japan’d tea Table & China” and “a Mahog[any] Do. & China,” both in the “Great Room,” are listed in Mrs. Hannah Pemberton’s inventory recorded in Boston in 1758. The inventory of Joseph Blake of Boston recorded in 1746 lists a “tea Table with a Sett of China furniture” in the back room of the house, while in the “closett” in the front room were “6 Tea Cups & Saucers” along with other ceramic wares.[[40]]
The most popular type of tea table apparently was the circular tripod; that is, a circular top supported on a pillar with three feet. This kind of table is seen again and again in the prints and paintings ([figs. 1], [2], [9], [14]), and is listed in the inventories of the period. These tables, usually of walnut or mahogany, had stationary or tilt tops with plain, scalloped, or carved edges. Square or round, tripod or four-legged, the tables were usually placed against the wall of the room until teatime when, in the words of Ferdinand Bayard, “a mahogany table is brought forward and placed in front of the lady who pours the tea.”[[41]] This practice is depicted in a number of 18th-century pictures, with the tea table well out in the room, often in front of a fireplace, and with seated and standing figures at or near the table ([fig. 1]). Evidence of such furniture placement in American parlors is recorded in a sketch and note Nancy Shippen received from one of her beaus, who wrote in part:[[42]]
... this evening I passed before Your house and seeing Company in the parlour I peep’d through the Window and saw a considerable Tea Company, of which by their situation I could only distinguish four persons. You will see the plan of this Company upon the next page.
Figure 8.—A sketch by Louis Guillaume Otto that was enclosed in a letter to Nancy Shippen of Philadelphia about 1780. The sketch indicates the placement of the furniture in the Shippen parlor and the location of the tea-party participants. The “Explication” accompanying the drawing reads in part: “A. Old Dr Shippen sitting before the Chimney.... B. Mr Lee walking up and down, speaking and laughing by intervalls.... C. Miss Nancy [Shippen] before the tea table.... D. Mrs Shippen lost in sweet meditations. E. F. G. Some strangers which the Spy [Mr. Otto] could not distinguish. H. Cyrus [the butler] standing in the middle of the room—half asleep. I. Mr Otto standing before the window....” From Shippen Papers, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress.
In the sketch ([fig. 8]), a floor plan of the Shippen parlor, we can see the sofa against the wall between the windows, while chairs and tea table have been moved out in the room. The table is near the fireplace, where Miss Shippen served the tea. In the 18th century such an arrangement was first and foremost one of comfort, and perhaps also one of taste. The diary of Jacob Hiltzheimer indicates that in 1786 the first signs of fall were felt on August 1, for the Philadelphian wrote: “This evening it was so cool that we drank tea by the fire.”[[43]] In the south as in the north, tea—or, at the time of the American Revolution its patriotic substitute, coffee—was served by the fire as soon as the first winter winds were felt. Philip Fithian, while at Nomini Hall in Virginia, wrote in his journal on September 19, 1774: “the Air is clear, cold & healthful. We drank our Coffee at the great House very sociably, round a fine Fire, the House and Air feels like winter again.”[[44]]
