Time for tea: in celebration of the remarkable craftmanship involved in the making and taking of a cup of tea, Peter Brown tells the extraordinary story of how one of the best-loved beverages was introduced to the Western world

Apollo, April, 2004 by Peter Brown

Another strong possibility however is that the painting shows one of the 'Societies for the Reformation of Manners', a number of which were being created at the end of the seventeenth century. A possible clue to this attribution is offered by a manuscript on the table, dated 1698, which suggests we could be in the presence of the campaigning cleric Josuah Woodward, whose published accounts of these societies ran to fifteen editions. (19)

If the hypothesis is correct then the heroic figure, centre right, would be the Middlesex magistrate Sir John Gonson, the so-called scourge of 'Gin Alley'. We can compare this likeness with a more mature Gonson, dressed in similar coat and periwig which is illustrated in Hogarth's A Harlot's Progress, 1732, plate III.

Despite continuing doubts about identification, the artist does present us with an accurate representation of the ritual of tea drinking in an early eighteenth-century context.

The company is gathered informally in the library of a London townhouse with views through an open sash window across a tree-lined sunken garden to the river Thames beyond and what appears to be the spire of a church near to the tower of London. Both business and pleasure are being conducted around a green velvet-covered oval table. To the front of the composition is a young page serving tea from what is probably the earliest complete depiction of a tea table with all its attendant equipage. The lacquer tray (rather confusingly referred to as a 'teatable' in early shipping manifestos) is octagonal, fitted with a shallow, raised border and decorated with gilt and red landscapes. It seems likely this shape is of European manufacture however, as most of the lacquer 'teatables' imported from the Far East at this time were rectangular and graduated in five sizes, 'from 32" x 22" down to 24" x 18" '. (20) These sizes allowed for close packing in the crates and for other economic reasons they were ordered as flat-bottomed boards some three-quarter inches thick to be 'well lacquered' on both sides. The European cabinetmakers could split them down their length to create an extra tray to which they would add their own raised border. The stand, with its baluster legs and serpentine stretcher, is also japanned and similar to other European designs of this period.

On the tea table is a range of blue and white Chinese porcelain, typical of examples being imported on the Dorothy in 1696, decorated with oriental pavilioned landscapes. The assembled set comprises a globular teapot with double ribbed finial resting on a deep dish. It was not until 1712 that the special custom made teapot stands, or 'patty-pans' are first mentioned, being requested in the loading instructions for the 'Loyal Bliss'. (21) Also present on the table is a pearshaped covered milk jug with metal mounts linking lid to handle, a covered sugar bowl with gilded ribbon finial and two from a nest of six tea-bowls with saucers to match. The trefid pattern tea spoons are mostly inverted and we see no indication of any spoon tray, (22) or silver sugar longs, for the page is using his fingers to dispense the lumps of sugar.