What is a tea pair. Tea pair is a great gift! Pictured: ADELAIDE XIV model by Driade, designed by Dong Xie

In stores, this is what they call a set of a cup and saucer, but historically this is not entirely correct.
I re-read Melnikov-Pechersky the other day. He is one of the writers-ethnographers, he has a lot about life and customs. Before, I used to intuitively roughly understand the meaning of a word and read on, but now I began to note those expressions whose meaning I do not know exactly.

The keen eye of Mark Danilych immediately noticed in the corner, at a large table, sitting fishmongers. They treated themselves to twelve pairs of tea.
- To Mark Danilych, our deepest! - With a slight shortness of breath, in a hoarse voice, the corpulent, fat merchant's wife said, wiping the sweat that had come out on his face and all over his head, bald to the very back of his head, with a red handkerchief.
The clerk quickly jumped up and set up a chair for Mark Danilych.
- Tea and sugar! said Smolokurov, greeting his acquaintances.
“For tea, you are welcome,” the stout, bald-headed merchant answered and ordered the floorman: “Bring me, my dear, six more pairs. Yes, ask the owner of the best lansina. Not that, they say, the guests will send back and won’t pay a penny.
When they drank tea at home, the hostess put the teapot directly on the samovar, on a special platform - so that it would not cool down, so that its sides would be warmed from the samovar pipe. Like this:

Kustodiev, "Tea Party"

Rossokhin, "Gatherings"

Makovsky, "Alekseich"
But in a large tavern, each guest cannot drag a separate samovar. Therefore, the sex officers carried a large kettle of boiling water - and a small kettle to brew in it.
I suppose that a small teapot was brought to the table still empty - and it was more dexterous to carry it, and the guests could appreciate that they had dry tea leaves from real tea, and not from a Kopor leaf.
Here is another illustration I found directly from the tavern:

Kustodiev, "Cab drivers for tea"
To this day, such tea pairs are sold in stores along with "cup-saucer" pairs:

The next step will be to deal with lansin, which surprised me a lot.

Saved

This is a cup and saucer set. Both elements are made in the same style. If you need a small tea set without unnecessary items, you can buy two or three identical tea pairs. It's also a great holiday gift. Some sets are initially supplied in a gift box - cardboard or plastic.

What are tea pairs made of?

The most common material is ceramics, porcelain, faience, glass. Ceramic dishes are fragile, heat up quickly, and are afraid of temperature changes. But it is affordable for any buyer, it has a wide variety.

Glass and faience tea sets are also widespread. In them, the taste of tea is revealed perfectly, but it cools quickly. They are inexpensive, fragile and short-lived.

Porcelain tea pairs - for true connoisseurs of tea and ceremonies. Drinking from a porcelain cup is very pleasant: the walls do not heat up, and the drink retains its temperature for a long time. The material is very smooth and pleasant to the touch with the lips.

Porcelain tea pairs look expensive (and cost the same) and are very strong and durable. Good tea and porcelain are an elite duet for a luxurious tea party.

Features of tea pairs

Cups have a small volume - 220-250 ml. Saucers are usually round with a recess, but can be flat, square, oval. Sometimes, instead of a plate under the cup, wooden flat coasters are used.

In some tea pairs there is a third item - a spoon or a teapot. Although it is difficult to call this kit a couple, it is still intended for one person.


Sets are white (especially porcelain), but most often they are painted. Some manufacturers decorate porcelain dishes with precious metals - 999 platinum, 925 silver or 24 carat glossy gold. The cost of such a set starts from 8-9 thousand rubles.

Depending on the manufacturer, painting on a tea pair can be done:

• in the east;
• classical;
• minimalist;
• Japanese style.

Czech, German, Chinese and Japanese companies produce tea pairs. The cheapest are Chinese sets, and sets from the Czech Republic and Germany will cost the most.

Agree, drinking tea or coffee is doubly pleasant when the drink is served in a very beautiful dish. Naturally, for tea drinking there is a special dishware. Buy a tea pair today it is possible in a specialized online store. Moreover, a tea pair is different from a coffee pair. Drinking, for example, tea from a coffee cup is inconvenient and unaesthetic. The same goes for drinking coffee from a teacup.

That is why before buy tea pair from porcelain or a coffee pair from any other material, you need to understand the differences between them.

tea pairs

Let's start with the cup. In this tandem, the tea cup in all designs is produced in the form of a bowl with a handle. The volume of the vessel can vary from 200 to 250 ml. Such buy tea cups with saucers a must for every hostess. They are applicable not only for tea, but also for other hot drinks. For example, cocoa, hot chocolate and even coffee with cream. The pair has a design feature - the saucer in it is endowed with a recess, clearly under the bottom of its pair - the cup. Such sets are sold both in a single copy and in sets, produced:

• porcelain. Buy a porcelain cup- it means to purchase a classic copy of a tea pair. Porcelain is resistant to small mechanical stress, has a long service life, and is environmentally friendly. Such pairs are produced in a huge selection of designs;
• ceramics. Ceramics is a special material for the production of tea or coffee pairs, as experts noted that in such dishes, drinks reveal their taste to the maximum and acquire a certain softness, since in such dishes the contents evenly and at a constant value keep the temperature. Therefore, experts recommend buy a gift tea pair and present it as the most unusual and useful gift;
• bone china. This is a special material, which contains 50% pre-ground, burned bone. This material has the highest whiteness. From such material it turns out very beautiful tea pair, buy it can also be used for daily use, as it has very high strength rates. It is also perfect for festive receptions, as products made from such porcelain are very elegant, light and refined.

We also note that a tea pair made of English porcelain can be bought on favorable terms. Mostly, the cost is affected not only by the material of production, but also by design, style, shape, etc.

coffee couple

In terms of volume, a cup of this tandem is significantly smaller than a tea cup. Perhaps this is due to the fact that important and quick matters are decided over a cup of coffee, and over a cup of tea you can have a relaxed long conversation. In addition, the capacity of a coffee cup is explained by the saturation of the drink: the stronger it is, the smaller the capacity. Therefore, it can vary from 80 to 10 ml for black coffee, from 50 to 70 ml for an oriental drink, 150 ml is the volume for cappuccino.

These products are made from porcelain, ceramics and bone china. In a variety of designs, shapes, for holidays and everyday use. The product is offered at an affordable and expensive price.

It is very difficult to find in all respects the perfect gift. However, we can safely say that such a gift, and absolutely for any occasion, will be nothing more than a pair of tea made of porcelain. Such a gift will undoubtedly please both close relatives and a colleague, not to mention bosom friends. Luxurious porcelain tableware will become not just a useful gift that will be used in everyday life. A tea couple will always remind you of cozy evenings and bright mornings; it will also become associated with friendly gatherings along with long intimate conversations. And you can be sure that tea served in beautiful porcelain cups will become even more delicious.
As for the history that the tea couple has, along with the traditional ceremony, it came to us from Ancient China. In those days, a Chinese version of a tea pair was a tall cup called wenxiabei, and pinmingbei - a low bowl. Tea was brewed in a tall cup, which was covered with a low bowl. Further, such a design was turned over, after which tea was drunk from the bowl, and a tall glass made it possible to enjoy the exceptional aroma of this drink. As well as the whole ceremony, the dishes carried a certain symbolism. In particular, the tea pair itself symbolizes yin and yang - the unity that includes the transition from the heavenly directly to the earthly. When tea is poured from a tall glass (“heavenly”) into a bowl (“earthly”), this identifies the natural transition from high to low. Those dishes that were made for daily use assumed the use of clay in its composition, which was subsequently signed with the sayings of the Chinese sages. Porcelain tableware was already used for special occasions, the tea pair in which had the finest and most elegant pattern.
Used in Europe, the cup used in tea drinking traditionally did not have a handle, in equal measure, like its eastern counterpart, which is the bowl. Already in 1731, the sculptor Johannes Kaepdler invented a cup handle. This not only made drinking tea a convenient process, allowing you to drink even the hottest drink without burning yourself, but also allowed for an offshoot in the design, focused on the creation of tea ceremony utensils. Until now, designers have come up with a wide variety of solutions for creating the design of handles in tea cups.
Always created in Europe, the tea cup was "lonely" - the appearance of the saucer, inherent in Chinese ceremonies, came here much later. Initially, the saucers were deep, and they drank tea from them in the same way as is customary for oriental ceremonies. Later, based on this fashion, Russia's own tradition was formed, assuming the obligatory presence of a samovar, bagels and long conversations as its own attributes. The saucer gradually became smaller and smaller, and until such time as it acquired the forms accepted today, namely, becoming only a cup holder, which will avoid contamination of the tablecloth from an accidentally spilled drink, and also simply make it possible to put a teaspoon on it .
For a modern tea pair, the saucer does not have to have a rounded shape, now it can be oval, triangular, and square - there are no restrictions on the part of fashion trends in this direction.
Like the traditional Russian tea drinking, the gift of porcelain utensils, in particular a pair of tea, also belongs to the traditional offshoots of this process. Previously, it was believed that giving a tea pair is a gift suitable only for relatives, but today it is quite universal in its “purpose”. The buyer can choose both ready-made porcelain dishes for a specific event, or decide on an exclusive version made to order in a single copy. It can be a deep cup with a corporate logo printed on it for management, or a funny picture or an inscription for a friend. You can choose the most delicate cups in the shape of a heart, which are ideal for St. Valentine's Day, or maybe an original version for a birthday - the choice options suggest the widest range!

Products, one way or another referring to serving, have always been considered one of the best universal gifts. Such presentations, as practice shows, are appropriate to present on almost any occasion. Tea pair - take at least this item. Relating to the tableware group, the tea pair, however, is not included in the list of so-called "special purpose" gifts. About who to give a tea pair and how to choose it, read below.

In the traditional sense, a tea pair is a set consisting of two elements - a cup and a saucer. However, sometimes a tea pair can be completed with a third element - a teaspoon. Tea pairs today are made from a wide variety of materials - from glass to metal.

Porcelain tea pairs are considered the most popular options. This is definitely a classic with a lot of history. Porcelain tableware has been highly valued at all times. Today, tea pairs from the oldest Russian manufacturer are in special demand - a factory whose glorious history began in the middle of the 18th century and continues to this day.

Connoisseurs of extravagant style, as practice shows, prefer metal tea pairs. The leaders in the production of such products are undoubtedly the artists from the Ural city of Zlatoust. It is well known that Zlatoust specializes in the production of decorative edged weapons, but another direction of Zlatoust for many years has been the production of dishes.

Who can give a pair of tea?

It so happened that a tea pair, like any other dishes and serving items, is included in the list of universal gifts, as mentioned above. You can present a tea pair as a gift both on a specific occasion and without it - just to please the addressee. By the way, the addressee can be either a close person, or just an acquaintance or colleague.

Where to buy a tea pair?

If you are thinking about buying a tea pair for yourself or as a gift, you should first decide on the choice of a store. As practice shows, it is safest to purchase such products in specialized stores that work directly with suppliers. So you can get a guarantee of high quality goods and save yourself the risk of buying a fake. A large collection of various tea pairs from leading Russian manufacturers is presented in a special collection of the Rus Velikaya store. Our store works directly with suppliers and controls the quality of products sold. The gallery of the Russian Gift House presents dozens of different tea pairs for every taste, including those from masters from the Ural Chrysostom and the Imperial Porcelain Factory.