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Peter Brown explains how one of the best-loved beverages, tea, was introduced to the western world; how the groundswell in demand and the objects needed for consumption, helped fuel the industrial revolution; and how the use of expensive equipage became codified into a formalized ritual-based ceremony, which centered around an exotic tea table. He shares the evolution of this ceremony and highlights some of the female patrons who helped promote the activity to a broad circle of friends and acquaintances. The decorative arts collections of the Duchess of Portland, Lady Betty Germain and the daughters of George III are among those whom Brown illustrates and assesses here.

Peter Brown is Director of Fairfax House, a Georgian house museum in York, England. He is a pioneer of contextual displays in period settings, using tableware and food, and has curated a number of exhibitions, focusing on dining rituals, customs, and presentations in the English Country House. Author of Pleasures of the Table, Dining by Design and British Cutlery, an Illustrated History of Design, Evolution and Use, he is currently working on a touring exhibition, Paradise on a Plate, which explores how the garden has inspired artists and how this influence manifests itself indoors.