Tea Set

In the early 19th century, Chinoiserie was prevalent in European decorative arts. Eastern styles greatly influenced the designs of textiles, ceramics, furniture and architecture. In the early 1800s, the Wedgwood factory was manufacturing a wide range of Eastern-influenced patterns to decorate dinner, dessert and tea wares. One of them was the ‘Prunus’ relief – Prunus is a genus of Japanese ornamental cherry tree – which decorates this pale yellow tea set.This type of stoneware known as caneware was developed by Josiah Wedgwood in the 1760s and perfected in the 1770s. The fawn colored ware was preferable to Wedgwood rather than his rosso antico, though the shapes of this tea set were manufactured using both types of ceramic. Caneware was notably used to create tea pots with elements resembling bamboo. Such a highly stylized piece was in line with the earlier pineapple and melon wares Wedgwood produced in the eighteenth century.The above tea set features white Prunus decoration, in relief, familiar to viewers from the white applique shapes later used on Wedgwood’s famous Jasperware products.