A tea cosy or tea warmer is a cover for a

teapot A teapot is a vessel used for steeping tea leaves or a herbal mix in boiling or near-boiling water, and for serving the resulting infusion which is called tea. It is one of the core components of teaware. Dry tea is available either in tea ba ...

,Article of the''

Boston Journal ''The Boston Journal'' was a daily newspaper published in Boston, Massachusetts, from 1833 until October 1917 when it was merged with the '' Boston Herald''. The paper was originally an evening paper called the ''Evening Mercantile Journal''. Whe ...

'', 25 November 1879 traditionally made of cloth. It insulates a teapot, keeping the contents warm. Their use predates the invention of

vacuum flask A vacuum flask (also known as a Dewar flask, Dewar bottle or thermos) is an insulating storage vessel that greatly lengthens the time over which its contents remain hotter or cooler than the flask's surroundings. Invented by Sir James Dewa ...

s as a means of keeping hot liquids hot. Sometimes, if the tea is served in a restaurant or in a hotel, the teapot is covered with a tea cosy that has a metal exterior to protect the inner fabric of the cosy from wear and tear and also to further improve the insulation of the teapot. A typical cosy is easy to put over or pop off the teapot in order to pour the tea, but some are wrapped around the teapot and have holes for the spout and the handle (so called "bachelor" teapots). The "

crinoline A crinoline is a stiff or structured petticoat designed to hold out a woman's skirt, popular at various times since the mid-19th century. Originally, crinoline described a stiff fabric made of horsehair ("crin") and cotton or linen which was ...

lady" cosies include a porcelain doll on the top, with her flowing skirts providing the thermal insulation. Tea cosies may have padded inserts that can be removed and washed. Some tea cosies are hand-

knitted Knitting is a method by which yarn is manipulated to create a textile, or fabric. It is used to create many types of garments. Knitting may be done by hand or by machine. Knitting creates stitches: loops of yarn in a row, either flat or i ...

, resembling woollen hats, some even feature a "bobble" (

pom-pom A pom-pom – also spelled pom-pon, pompom or pompon – is a decorative ball or tuft of fibrous material. The term may refer to large tufts used by Cheerleading, cheerleaders, or a small, tighter ball attached to the top of a hat, al ...

) on top, which may also serve as a handle to remove or lift the tea cosy. A special tea cosy is the so-called tea lugger, which enables the hot teapot to be carried around easily. Tea cosies may sometimes be made in matching sets with items such as

tablecloth A tablecloth is a cloth used to cover a table. Some are mainly ornamental coverings, which may also help protect the table from scratches and stains. Other tablecloths are designed to be spread on a dining table before laying out tableware and ...

place mat A placemat or table mat is a covering or pad designating an individual place setting, unlike the larger tablecloth that covers the entire surface. Placemats are made from many different materials, depending on their purpose: to protect, decorate ...

s, egg cosies,

oven glove An oven glove, also commonly known as an oven mitt, is a thermal insulated glove or mitten usually worn in the kitchen to easily protect the wearer's hand from hot objects such as ovens, stoves, cookware, etc. They are functionally similar to pot ...

s, or

apron An apron is a garment that is worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body. The word comes from old French ''napron'' meaning a small piece of cloth, however over time "a napron" became "an apron", through a linguistics process cal ...

s. Cloth tea-cosies may be

embroidered Embroidery is the craft of decorating fabric or other materials using a needle to apply thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. In modern days, embroidery is usually seen on c ...

, perhaps to complement a fine set of

china China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Some have been made with hidden pockets to be filled with fragrant

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicinal ...

s or

flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

s, similar to a

potpourri Potpourri ( ) is a mixture of dried, naturally fragrant plant materials used to provide a gentle natural scent, commonly in residential settings. It is often placed in a decorative bowl. The word "potpourri" comes into English from the French ...

History

Although the history of the tea cosy may have begun when

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of '' Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and northe ...

was introduced from China to Britain in the 1660s (Pettigrew suggests the origins in the 18th century), the first documented use of a tea cosy in Britain was in 1867. It is probably the

Duchess of Bedford {{Notability, date=September 2022 Duchess of Bedford is a title given to the wife of the Duke of Bedford, an extant title in the peerage of England which was first created in 1414. Duchesses of Bedford ;1st creation (1414) * Anne of Burgundy (140 ...

who, by establishing the activity of

afternoon tea Tea (in reference to food, rather than the drink) has long been used as an umbrella term for several different meals. English writer Isabella Beeton, whose books on home economics were widely read in the 19th century, describes meals of var ...

in 1840, would have brought the popularity of the tea cosy. During the

Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardia ...

the tea time was important for social interaction, and the absence of central heating made drinks to cool fast, so the use of an insulation jacket for the teapot made sense. Tea cosies started to be used in North America in the same period. Newspapers of the time reveal that tea cosies enjoyed "a sudden and unexpected rise in public favor" among women who hosted tea parties. Newspapers of the time included advice columns on how to make one: "Some very handsome ones are made of remnants of heavy

brocade Brocade is a class of richly decorative shuttle-woven fabrics, often made in colored silks and sometimes with gold and silver threads. The name, related to the same root as the word "broccoli", comes from Italian ''broccato'' meaning "embos ...

, but

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

is generally used, embroidered or not, according to taste, as these covers are washable. Make the covering large enough for your teapot and provide a ring at the top to lift it off with." Tea cosies then flourished during the late 19th century, where they appeared in many households across Britain, motivated by the obsession of decorating and covering objects characteristic of the

. The popularity continued into the 20th century, when cosy become an object of

handicraft A handicraft, sometimes more precisely expressed as artisanal handicraft or handmade, is any of a wide variety of types of work where useful and decorative objects are made completely by one’s hand or by using only simple, non-automated re ...

for both homemakers and craftsmen. The use of cosies dwindled by the end of the 20th century due to the reduced use of teapots (these are not required if the

tea bag A tea bag, or the compound teabag, is a small, porous, sealed bag or packet, typically containing tea leaves or the leaves of other herbs, which is immersed in water to steep and make an infusion. Originally used only for tea ('' Camellia si ...

s are used).

Art and literature

Tea cosy

needlework Needlework is decorative sewing and textile arts handicrafts. Anything that uses a needle for construction can be called needlework. Needlework may include related textile crafts such as crochet, worked with a hook, or tatting, worked with a ...

art is captured by a collection of the Norfolk Museums and Archeology Service on contemporary British artists and artisans. Tea cosies in fiction include the eponymous item in

Edward Gorey Edward St. John Gorey (February 22, 1925 – April 15, 2000) was an Americans, American writer, Tony Award-winning costume designer, and artist, noted for his own illustrated books as well as cover art and illustration for books by other w ...

's ''The Haunted Tea-Cosy: A Dispirited and Distasteful Diversion for Christmas''. A well known quote from Scottish comedian

Billy Connolly Sir William Connolly (born 24 November 1942) is a Scottish actor, retired comedian, artist, writer, musician, and presenter. He is sometimes known, especially in his homeland, by the Scots nickname the Big Yin ("the Big One"). Known for his ...

is "Never trust a man who, when left alone in a room with a tea cosy, does not try it on." Australian author Loani Prior's ''Wild Tea Cosies and Really Wild Tea Cosies'' made the Top Ten of the Australian National Bestseller List in 2008 and 2010 respectively. Loani's tea cosies have been exhibited at the

Powerhouse Museum The Powerhouse Museum is the major branch of the Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences (MAAS) in Sydney, the others being the historic Sydney Observatory at Observatory Park, Sydney, Observatory Hill, and the newer Museums Discovery Centre at Castle ...

. File:Tea pot with knitted tea cosy sheep.JPG, Teapot with knitted tea cosy sheep File:Thetaske (tetaske).JPG, A tea lugger File:coral tea cosy.jpg, An elaborate Coral Tea Cosy, crocheted to suggest the appearance of a

Coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of colonies of coral polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, whose polyps cluster in groups. Co ...

Image:Cushions & Cosies Front Cover.jpg, Various tea cosies pictured on a knitting patterns magazine for home crafters, from the 1930s

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tea Cosy Teaware

History

Art and literature

See also

References

Sources