Child's Tea Set

Child's Tea Set, Late 19th - Early 20th century, Porcelain

This set of doll china would have been used by upper-middle class young women in The United States. At a young age the tea set would be used as a toy but as young women got older it proved to be a tool to assimilate to a particular cultural practice. Tea sets were a toy that were specifically targeted towards girls and played a role in their coming of age experience. Playing with the tea set was often a supervised activity due to the fragility of the material. Having adult supervision is another factor that contributed to the formality of the tea set.