Moral Dangers of the 18th Century Tea Party -- Talk at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery

Come and relax at the Gallery after work, and learn something interesting about the origins of the great British institution of tea drinking!

Monday, 6 December 2010, 5.15pm
The Quakers Tea Table Overturn'd: Moral Dangers of the 18th Century Tea Party -- Talk by Oliver Pickering and Liz Stainforth
Believe it or not, the tea party was a controversial and highly debated topic throughout the 18th century, regarded by some as a sign of weakening moral standards and by others as the height of refined social intercourse.

The talk includes a discussion of the unpublished 1717 poem The Quakers Tea Table Overturn'd, from a manuscript held in Special Collections at Leeds University Library. It highlights a contemporary concern that young people in Quaker families may be tempted to partake of 'worldly pleasures' through indulging in the fashion for tea parties. The development of tea drinking is traced through observations made by such eminent contemporaries as Jane Austen, William Cobbett and Samuel Johnson.

The talk is held in association with the Gallery's temporary exhibition of late 18th century tea equipage, "Vanity Ware: Affordable Luxury in the Late Georgian Period", which is displayed until 18 December 2010.

As usual, our events are free and no booking is necessary.

Find us at the Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery in the Parkinson Court.
For more details about this and other events at the Gallery please visit www.leeds.ac.uk/gallery/events

Stanley and Audrey Burton Gallery
Parkinson Court
University of Leeds
Woodhouse Lane
LS2 9JT
Leeds
Tel: (0113) 343 2777