Early Scottish silver teawares

Magazine Antiques, June, 1996 by John A. Hyman

Tea was considered a woman's drink to be consumed in the privacy of the home, as opposed to ale, a man's drink consumed in taverns and clubs, where men conducted business. In 1729 William Mackintosh wrote:

I used to be ask'd if I had had my morning draught yet? I am now asked if I have yet had my tea. And in lieu of the big quaigh with strong ale and toast and after a dram of good wholesome Scottish spirits, there is now the tea-kettle put on the fire, the tea-table, and silver and china equipage brought in with the marmalet, cream and cold tea.(7)

How, then, can one explain the most amazing of all Scottish teapots (Pls. I, Ia, Ib)? Flamboyant, kinetic, original, and complex, it is unequivocably masculine in design. Beneath the constant play of decorative patterns the body is highly disciplined, copied from a Yixing stoneware teapot. Imported ceramic wares from the Orient were the symbols of taste and sophistication and were transposed into silver in Scotland and ceramics in England. The chased decoration on the teapot follows Scottish tradition, but the running strapwork on the base, shoulder, and cover is particularly sophisticated. The cast spout is a masterpiece of modeling, its surging breadth dominating that end of the body. This teapot reflects a potpourri of decorative themes dramatically united and magnificently realized.

Two decades earlier, in the 1740s, the same Yixing body had been adapted to create the serene and dignified teapot shown in Plate VI.(8) It is one of a small and hitherto unidentified group of teapots based on the Yixing model and incorporating a variety of decorative treatments true to conventional Scottish practice. This example, possibly unique, emphasizes the Oriental elements more than others in the group, but despite its reliance on a Chinese body, spout, finial, and concealed hinge (rare on Scottish teapots) like the stoneware original, the teapot retains its Scottish character in the broad bib of foliate chasing across the body and the leaf-capped silver handle.

The heyday of specifically Scottish silver teawares ended about 1770 with the building of a planned community, known as The New Town, in Edinburgh. Each residence was provided with specialized rooms such as parlors and dining rooms that were unheard of in tenement housing. The changes in living patterns that emerged caused consumer preferences to shift, opening the market to entirely new types of fabrics, furniture, and decorative objects. Traditional Scottish designs were lost in the scramble to modernize. Even the familiar spherical teapot underwent a series of adjustments, emerging with an oversized oval body and a flattened cover reflecting neoclassical influences overlaid with Scottish ideas (see Pl. IX).

A specifically Scottish teaspoon design known as Scottish Fiddle bears little resemblance to the conventional Fiddle pattern, which originated four decades later in France. Scottish Fiddle was introduced around 1745 and had become the standard pattern throughout the country by 1790 (see Pl. VIII). The shape is derived from a late version of the upturned spoon that was popular on the Continent for a broad range of flatwares.(9) In Scotland, the design was used primarily for teaspoons and occasionally condiment spoons.