A tea cosy ( American English tea cozy ) is a cover for a teapot, traditionally made of cloth or wool, which is used to insulate the tea, keeping it warm while it brews. Cloth tea cosies often have padded inserts, which can be removed and washed separately.
Tea cosies are often available in matching sets with other items such as tablecloths, oven gloves or aprons. Cloth tea-cosies may be embroidered, perhaps to compliment a fine set of china. Some have been made with hidden pockets to be filled with fragrant herbs or flowers, similar to a potpourri.
Many tea cosies in Britain are hand-knitted, resembling woollen hats, even featuring a bobble on top. According to comedian Billy Connolly, if a man is left alone in a room with a tea cosy, and he does not attempt to wear it on his head, he should not be trusted.
History
Although the history of the tea cosy may begin when tea was introduced to Britain in the 1660s, the first documented use of a tea cosy in Britain was in 1867. It is probably the Duchess of Bedford who, by establishing the activity of afternoon tea in 1840, would have brought the popularity of the tea cosy. Afternoon tea was the time for networking and keeping up to date with aristocracy gossip and topical news. With all the chatter at teatime the teapot would get cold, which would have at times cut short some tea parties. And so, the tea cosy came about. Tea cosies then flourished during the late 1800s, where they appeared in many households across Britain, motivated by the obsession of decorating and covering objects characteristic of the Victorian era.
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, but linen 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."
Art and Literature
Tea cosy needlework 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's The Haunted Tea-Cosy: A Dispirited and Distasteful Diversion for Christmas .
Pop Culture References
Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Buffy mentions she wants to be left alone in a room with a tea cosy. I just want to be alone in a room with an open fire and a tea cosy, and I don't even know what a tea cosy is but I want one! (Buffy, in ANNE season 3)
In the movie Snatch, Boris the Blade shoots Frankie "Four Fingers" while he is tied to a chair with a tea cosy on his head. This then results in several subsequent characters asking, "What has he got a tea cosy on his head for?" including the police who find him in the boot of a stolen car.
In the Harry Potter series, Dobby the house elf wears a tea cosy as a hat.
References
- ^ Article of the Boston Journal, 25 November 1879
- ^ Billy Connolly Quotes, UK TV
- ^ A History of Hand Knitting, Richard Rutt (1987), London : Batsford.
- ^ Suie Roberts, The History of the Tea Cosy, 31 March 2008
- ^ Philadelphia Inquirer, 20 October 1892
- ^ Article of the Boston Journal, 25 November 1879
- ^ Chloë Archer with Louise Pratt, Anna Champeney (1995) Teapotmania: The story of the British craft teapot and teacosy; Norfolk Museums Service
- ^ Edward Gorey (1998)The Haunted Tea-Cosy:
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