Through the parlor window, we see a servant move chairs from their usual positions against the walls into a companionable arrangement in room's center. The servant is preparing for a formal tea party, a favorite American social ritual in the last half of the 18th century. We welcome you as our guest. Here in colonial America, tea drinking is a daily domestic ritual based on English modes of behavior. The expense of tea from the Orient and the elaborate tea service limit this custom to more affluent members of society.
Guests make a more formal and ritualized event.
In a moment, another servant will carry in a tray and place it on a nearby tea table, a new furniture form designed to accommodate the making and serving of tea. Arranged on the tray is the necessary equipment. Gleaming silver teaspoons complete the array. Members of the household gather in the parlor to join friends and acquaintances, as well as strangers visiting the town. The mistress of the house, seated at the tea table, carefully measures the imported tea and begins to brew and serve this very stylish beverage in her new and elegant English tea set.