Travel tea set

A tea set consisting of a basket, teapot and cups. The woven basket is oval in shape, consisting of a deep lower part and a shallower lid. The inside of the basket is lined with fabric printed with floral patterns, and the deeper part, or body, has deep custom grooves sewn into it, the smaller one for the cup and the larger for the teapot. The lid has a metal handle with red bows. The teapot (with lid) inside the basket is made of white porcelain painted in the famille rose style. This type of decoration was very common on Chinese porcelain intended for the Western market. It is characterised by the use of thickly applied opaque pink and crimson enamels, probably brought to China by Europeans in the late 17th or early 18th century. The most common motifs are flowers, butterflies, birds and people at leisure. In addition to the teapot, there are two smaller teacups in the basket. Both are painted with orange-green flowers on the glaze. The number of cups indicates how many people the set was intended for. The style of painting of the teapot differs from that of the cups, which is unusual as the sets usually consist of porcelain objects with the same style of painting. The entire set was intended for use outdoors, on journeys; similar sets are still used today at picnics. (TB)