Cabaret service

Cabaret service (ca. 1865)

The cabaret service (also known as dejeuner service ^[1] ) is a small tea or coffee service. A typical cabaret service includes (in addition to cups and saucers ^[1] ) a teapot or a coffeepot (with a lid and occasionally a stand ^[2] ), a sugar bowl, a creamer, sometimes a tray ^{[3] [4]} and cutlery. ^[5] In the 18th century a spoon boat was frequently a part of the set. ^[6] The tea- and coffeepots are small (one pint in a service for two, so called tête-à-tête, half a pint in a solitaire service for one), ^[3] the cups and saucers are frequently also smaller than the ones in the regular sets. ^[1] Tête-à-tête services were popular as wedding gifts.

The cabaret services originated in France, where the tea drinking was not ritualized, and thus small-scale arrangements for one or two were appropriate. ^[7] The cabaret services characteristically utilized unusual designs and extensive decorations, ^[4] this "jewel-like" appearance hints at marketing oriented towards ladies. ^[7]

In the 18th century silver (gilded) cabaret services with fitting cases were made for travel. ^[5]

References

1. Edwards 2017, p. 188.
2. Edwards 2022, p. 71.
3. MFA, Boston. "Five-piece coffee and tea set for one". mfa.org. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston . Retrieved 18 March 2023.
4. Edwards 2017, p. 269.
5. Boger & Boger 1957.
6. George Savage; Harold Newman (1985). "spoon-tray". In John Patrick Cushion (ed.). An Illustrated Dictionary of Ceramics: Defining 3,054 Terms Relating to Wares, Materials, Processes, Styles, Patterns, and Shapes from Antiquity to the Present Day. Thames and Hudson. p. 270. ISBN   978-0-500-27380-7. OCLC   12938517.
7. Hildyard 1999, p. 69.

Sources

• Edwards, Howell G.M. (27 March 2017). Swansea and Nantgarw Porcelains: A Scientific Reappraisal (PDF). Springer. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48713-7. ISBN   978-3-319-48713-7. OCLC   1005816953. S2CID   194409256.
• Edwards, Howell G.M. (5 May 2022). Welsh Armorial Porcelain: Nantgarw and Swansea Crested China (PDF). Springer Nature. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-97439-8. ISBN   978-3-03-097439-8. OCLC   1314428647. S2CID   248520004.
• Hildyard, R. J. C. (1999). European Ceramics. University of Pennsylvania Press. ISBN   978-0-8122-3505-0. OCLC   1034665423.
• Boger, Louise Ade; Boger, H. Batterson, eds. (1957). "Cabaret". The Dictionary of Antiques and the Decorative Arts: A Book of Reference for Glass, Furniture, Ceramics, Silver, Periods, Styles, Technical Terms, Etc. Scribner. p. 74. OCLC   1019976310.