Yesterday I finally had a chance to meet up with my friend Ruth for lunch. We had lots to catch up on, and I was glad to see her again since Ruth had been recuperating from some health issues. So I was already glad just to get to see her, but then Ruth surprised me by bringing along, on Dec. 1, my Christmas gift of two porcelain tea trivets! What a nice way to kick off December, eh?
Years ago, Ruth was given a lovely collection of vintage tea trivets by an aunt back home in Maine. She has shared some of them with me as gifts over the years, and I am thrilled with each one. These two are especially lovely because of the pink roses on them, and Ruth knew I would love them.
One of my friends at work enjoys looking for antiques just as I do, and I showed the trivets to her. She says she's never come across one and doesn't really know what to look for. I told her I think they look like dessert plates, but the rim on the bottom, which elevates the teapot from the table, is a defining detail to me. (And in a pinch, I would not hesitate to use a tea trivet as a dessert plate if I wanted to.) I think this makes seven tea trivets for me, and I can hardly imagine a more thoughtful gift from my friend.
I've never heard of a tea trivet either. You're supposed to set your teapot on them?
ReplyDeleteThose are beautiful. I am not familiar with this style of tea trivet.
ReplyDeleteThe tea trivets are lovely. I was not familiar with these either. If I have come across them before, I probably thought they were dessert plates. Now I can have the pleasure of researching another tea accessory. Thanks for the info.
ReplyDeleteMelanie, you're correct ... the trivet is designed to keep the hot teapot off the tabletop. Some of the undersides of trivets even have double rings or three little "bumps" to help elevate the trivet.
ReplyDeleteYes, those are very very pretty!
ReplyDeletePretty!! A sweet and thoughtful friend too! tammyp
ReplyDeleteThose are very pretty!
ReplyDeleteI collect (what I call) tea tiles. At last count, I had about 25 of them and I love and use all of them at one time or other.
I sure wish I had a friend who shared hers with me!