Monday, November 8, 2010

Jane Austen and Tea

Hello Every One!
Welcome to Tea Cup Tuesday!
Today I will be sharing a tea cup I saw in a very special lady's dining room.


This is the street side of the home where Jane Austen lived her last eight years, and wrote most of her major works. Jane, her mother and sister Cassandra, were given this home to live in by one of their brothers. It is in the Village of Chawton in Hampshire, England. When we arrived, it was morning, there had been a light rain, and the sun was just about to come out. Even now in the 21st century it is a quiet and peaceful place.

My friend and I entered through these gates, both quite excited to be there.

This is the side garden to the house. The open door to the right is the kitchen.
Can you tell how thrilled I am to be going into the home of the incredible author who wrote Emma! I do love that story! But I also love all of Jane Austen's stories.

This would have been Jane's Dining Parlor, complete with fireplace and hob.

Jane was in charge of breakfast, which means that she was in charge of tea as well.
She had the key to the tea chest, which was kept to the left of the fireplace.
A friend gave Jane's mother a Wedgewood breakfast set in 1811. This would have included a tea pot, cups and saucers, sugar bowl and creamer. There may or may not have been a matching china tray. Jane's nephew suggested in his memoirs that Jane was the kind of woman who would want to wash her china herself after using them, instead of trusting them to the help. I can understand why, considering how valuable china was at that time, not to mention the high cost of tea and sugar.

What a lovely simple tea cup!

This silver tea pot belonged to the Austen family, you can see two of their tea cups in the background.

To stand in this room, knowing Jane was here (and as I will share in another post, a much more compelling reason why this room was so significant to me) and made her tea in here, served it to her loved ones....Wow!
Today I leave you with a message from this amazing woman.
As you see above worked by Jane in embroidery floss.

If you would like to join in, please add your name to Mr. Linky below. Please do not sign up unless you have a tea cup to show us.
Please do share one of your cups, how you got it, why you love it, where it came from...
things like that. We love coming to see your beautiful tea cups.

33 comments:

  1. Hi Terri,
    What an experience to walk through Jane's home and see the china and other dishes she once used! It must be such a thrill. I love that silver tea pot! What a wonderful shape! The teacup is lovely too! Looking forward to hearing more about it. Have a lovely week.

    Blessings,
    Sandi

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  2. Ohhh, how wonderful! Thanks for sharing that! Love that you visited. Sherry

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  3. What a wonderful trip you have had. So exciting to touch a bit of history. So sorry about your broken saucer. Blessings, Lisa

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  4. I loved seeing the house, Oh seeing the tour through your eyes was wonderful! Love the silver teapot, the fireplace! Thank you so much for sharing your trip, I shall never get to go, but I have had a great time coming along with you!

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  5. I so love Jane Austen's writings, and to be in the house where she lived, well, that would be tops. Thanks for sharing the little tour.

    Jocelyn
    http://justalittlesouthernhospitality.blogspot.com/

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  6. Oh, what a fabulous post! Thanks for "taking" us there.

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  7. sooo interesting Terri to find your jane austen visit ~ i just posted jane's writings are now available for viewing online!..
    so i've entered that to the linky -
    thx for visiting FHC for TeaTIme Treats today's post :)

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  8. Beautiful cup and I'm really enjoying your trip to England and the stop at Jane's House!!!!!

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  9. Hi Terri!

    Oh, what a wonderful post today! I so enjoyed visiting with you at Jane's home. I would just love to visit here sometime!

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  10. This really was a special and wonderful trip for you. Such a treat to be inside Jane Austen's home. Lovely photos. Happy week...

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  11. OMG, how lucky are you to have been where Jane Austen prepared breakfast and had tea, Terri. I can imgaine the feeling! Thank you for sharing photos of this historical house....Christine

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  12. I just died and went straight to heaven! WOW!

    m ^..^

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  13. Thank you sio much for taking us with you on your trip! JAne is also one of my favorites!

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  14. Dear Terri, how wonderful you have a chance to visit Jane's house! How I envy you.. teehee.. and at the same time, thanking you for sharing this story with us.. Now we know how she lived before.. thanks for hosting and have a great day!
    xo
    fitty

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  15. This is a wonderful post! I can see the happiness on your face in the picture and read the happiness in your post. I very much like the quote by Jane Austen too.Please tel us more, more!

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  16. Hello Terri- Beautiful post. I've missed them. You visit such lovely places. Thank you for sharing. Take care.

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  17. Wow Terri!! What a treat..such a super-cool and fabulous post! I am charmed by it all..thanks for sharing this magical adventure!
    Hugs
    kiki

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  18. Dear Terry
    You are lucky visiting Jane Austen's home,I love her stories too!
    Yes my cups are black and I have got the tableware too but in the actual pattern .
    Meeting you is a pleasure for me,you know it...
    Love

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  19. Oh, what a delightful post...thank you for taking us along on this special visit to one of our favorite authors!

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  20. I'm so happy that I decided to check out some tea participant blogs today. It has brought me to you and my "muse". How special it must have been to be where Jane had spent such a special time in her life. Thank you so much for sharing.

    Best,
    Bonnie

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  21. A 'goosebump' moment.

    Europe has a way of reminding us that the history made THERE truly was life altering.

    I'm sure Jane was happy to have you visit her home. How she must feel to know that she is still loved.

    Hugs,
    Jan

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  22. Dear Terri,
    Thank you so much for stopping by today @ Concetta's Cafe - it was a perfect day to enjoy tea with you! What a wonderful post!
    <><
    Concetta

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  23. Wow! What a great experience that must have been. I would so enjoy visiting there. Thanks for sharing. :)

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  24. Thanks for sharing Jane's home with us - great photos. The tea wares were so pretty. It was interesting to learn some of her family history and daily routines too.

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  25. What an incredible experience! How inspiring.

    - The Tablescaper

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  26. Hi Terri: You are so lucky! What a wonderful experience to be in that place. I just love that silver tea pot. Can't wait to see what else you will share. Blessings, Martha

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  27. Thank you everyone, for all your very nice comments. I am glad you enjoyed my T.T. post with Jane.
    Hugs,
    Terri

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  28. Dear Terri,
    Thank you for sharing this amazing tour with us...The place just oozes charm, no wonder Jane could get her creative juices flowing in such a place.

    Kelsie

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  29. How exciting to see Jane Austen's house and personal things. If I can't be there myself, thanks so much for sharing! Loribeth

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  30. I love this post. I will copy the coffee cake recipe to bake soon. May I use the photo of the Jane Austin embroidered napkin.
    Cheers"
    Rita

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  31. Hi, I would love to visit this place sometime!!

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  32. Hello from Bologna, Italy. I'm a staunch Jane Austen addict. As you can see, a teacup with the bookspine of JA's novels is my profile photo... and in my blog, the image you see on the right is a lovely JA's teacup. I've just come across this post of yours and I like it so much. I do envy your visit to such a place! Hope one day I will go there, too... Bye!

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Thank you so much for stopping by!
I so enjoy each and everyone of your visits.
I read every single comment and try to get back if I can to visit you as well.
Please forgive me for not always being able to as there are so many of you lovely friends to see!
Hugs,
Terri