‘There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.’ Henry James
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For two centuries, the national drink of choice has been a nice cup of tea. Collectively, we drink more than 60 billion cups of it per year, which averages out at around 165 million per day. But on 21st April, however, that average will skyrocket, as the people of the United Kingdom cosy up over the kettle to celebrate National Tea Day.
We’re partial to a cup ourselves, and you’ll find traces of the national obsession with tea steeping in our archives. In bygone days, when tea was a luxury kept in beautifully decorated caddies, no ordinary spoon would suffice for measuring loose leaf into a teapot. Designed to roughly hold enough of the precious leaves for one person, the caddy spoon should be acknowledged as the grandfather of the modern teaspoon. Now highly collectible, they’re kept as objet d’art, admired like jewellery for their craftsmanship. Ours represent the very finest, and we’re proud of our complex open-worked handles, delicately combining sterling silver and gilt - finished flawlessly.
You see, spoons mean a lot to us. In fact, our founder’s introduction to silvercraft began with a simple spoon, in a small workshop above a family friend’s garage in East Finchley. Very carefully, the fourteen-year-old Grant domed flat sheet silver, twisted wire to make a stem and added a melted ball finial, soldering together a spoon that was ready to be polished and admired. Grant had found something he had a talent and passion for, and he was hooked. He still has that spoon.
Of course, no celebration of tea would be complete without the crowning glory of your tea tray - the teapot. For a shining example, look to our Paragon collection, crafted from fine bone china made in Stoke-on-Trent, and decorated by hand with 24ct gold. A modern classic, and very much our cup of tea.