Tea-table [ Furniture & Interior decoration / Rituals & Ceremonies / Eating & Drinking ]
… women took part in polite sociability, in the company of men and women, for the purpose of conversation, gossip and debate. What was distinctive about the tea-table as a model of sociability in the period 1688-1750 was that sociable … innovative gesture. The association with the domestic culture of women, however, also meant that this conversation and debate were repeatedly scapegoated as ephemeral, vulgar, and scandalous: nothing better than gossip. 5 5 . Max Gluckman, …
Conversation | Domesticity | Exoticism | Furniture | Gossip | Politeness | Public sphere | Tea | Tea-table
Encyclopedia