We can look to domestic life for evidence of the role that the crafted object plays in keeping up English appearances. As an example, take a cup of tea. Imagine a guest invited to share tea in a Camberwell home on a Sunday afternoon. She is ushered into the lounge room and offered an upholstered armchair in which to rest. The pot is fitted with a tea cosy and turned in a ritualistic sequence.
Conversation then turns to family, home renovations, health and holiday plans.
There is no room in this ceremony for fault or recrimination. The character of this ritual becomes more distinctive when contrasted with ceremonies which await guests in other cultures. In doing so, the guest sheds the means of individual mobility. Before settling on a rug with his hosts, it is customary for the guest to attend to the fire and request more wood. While this occurs, a grandmother sits in the background grinding coffee to a powder in a Turkish-style mill.