Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-29
NOVELTIES IN SILVER
QUAINT THINGS FOR AN AFTER
NOON TEA SERVICE.
Double Spoons in Imitation of Sugar
longs Are Real
Smart.

Written for The Star.
Afternoon tea has become quite as much
a part Of American social customs as 1t
ever was on the other side, and the con-
sideration of the equipment necessary for
serving it quite as much matter Of in
terest to womankind as the consideration
of her clothes any detail of the domes-
tic MENACE Every hostess appreciates
that social value of a cup of tea to draw
new acquaintances together, and so she
endeavors to prepare the beverage and
serve 1t in the most attractive manner
possible.
The woman who wants to make a tea
table effective this autumn will have lit
tie difficulty In selecting artistic pieces.
for in the smart shops there are stun
ming patterns of tea balls. teaspoons, deli
cately turned teapots with creamer and
sugar bowl to match, and the silver or
pottery strainers. that rest in ornamental
silver drain cups. Besides these pieces
that are essential in serving the bever-
age there are small candlesticks, dainty
matchholders and hand painted or enamel
cigarette boxes for those who have be-
come addicted to smoking
Pretty Tea Ball in Strawberry.
One of the most unique and handsome
of the tea ball styles, new this year, is
the strawberry shape in dull or gray sill
yer. 1t is exquisitely wrought for every
seed shows plainly and the tiny leaf at
the top looks natural that one Won
ders it does not wilt with the heat. At
the top of the berry there is short stem,
to which chain is attached, so that it can
be conveniently lowered into the teapot,
filled with boiling water. The berry has
an advantage that many of these fancy
foo hall Ia w hpr
are too small for practical use this new one
holds enough tea to make four cups A
blackberry tea ball is equally useful and
attractive.
Pretty baskets, in dull or gray silver
stamped SO the metal looks if it has
been actually woven, will be used on
many tables this season, because of their
beauty and size, for they, like the berry
balls, hold enough tea to make four or five
cups. The baskets fashioned like antique
Greek and Roman receptacles for flowers
have rounded lids that shut the tea leaves
in with a stout clasp. There are rounded
handles, too, that make them quite COM
plete in design and are exceedingly useful
in hanging the leaves in the water.
Teaspoons Are Liked.
Though teaspoons have been used. the
snap variety with handles like sugar tongs
are new this season. Their value lies in
the handles, that may be worked so that
the bowl of the spoon may be dipped into
the tea leaves. filed. and then snapped shut
and put into the pot of water with practf-
cally one movement of the hand. They are
plain. with the exception of delicately
traced floral designs on the bowls. The or
binary spoon tea balls that have to be
fastened with clasp quite decorative
this fall, for both the bowl and handle are
carved or etched with pretty scroll with
Powered patterns. Most of these are in the
bright silver finish.
One of the prettiest of the smart new
silver teasets. including teapot creamer
and sugar bowl, Is made on rounded lines,
with daintily carved rose vines on the
sides. In bright dull silver to match
these sets are the strainers in round or
oval shapes, with plain or decorative Dor
ders that fit over the drain cups that corre-
spond in the ornamental work and in the
finish of the metal. The newest of the
strainers and drain cups are made in the
terra Gotta, maroon and dark blue and
green glazed pottery, with a silver deposit
around the edges that gives a needed
brightness to the pieces.
Other Tea Table Novelties
There are cut out silver holders. in which
cut glass and glazed pottery white cups for
cheese, jams or jellies are set These add
much to the usefulness Of any table from
which tea is served, for with them the re-
freshments be more elaborate, and
they are decorative too.
Small candlesticks. in the new gray fin
ish, with conventionalized tulips etched on
the sides, are attractive and of practical
use on dark afternoons and during the
early evening hours.
AS for the ornamental cigarette boxes in
silver some of them for on TEA t;lrles
are plain, having only a chased carve
top, while others are hands onely leo
rated with enamel pastoral scenes IN deli
cate pinks, light blues and soft green back
grounds, with lavender or faint red figures.