Tablescape Thursday: Tea in the Parlor

I had a pretty busy week and didn't have time to put together a nice tablescape in advance for this week's Tablescape Thursday. But I did manage to quickly throw together something just in time! I decided to make up a nice little tea table in the parlor. I wish I had been able to get pictures with day lighting however!

I'm using my vintage silver service. Teapot and sugar bowl and creamer. I wish I had a beautiful little tea cart, but in lieu of a tea cart, a small low table works well too. The hubby and I did see a great antique tea cart last year but we didn't buy it right away (should have!!!) and of course, when we went back a week later it was gone.

We'll have some cookies with our tea; Valentine's Day heart cut-outs and Biscoff cookies (my favorite!).

One chair for you.....

And one chair for me! These chairs are not a matched set but they are remarkably similar. Typically parlor chairs with arms were for gentlemen and the chairs without arms were for ladies ( to accommodate their sometimes voluminous dresses). The ladies' chairs are also usually very low to the floor, to enable them to reach young, small children easier.

The mantel is aglow with candles, which reflect in the huge mirror that takes up the entire wall behind the fireplace.

We'll be having Vienna Tea today, from Demmers Teehaus in Vienna. My mother bought this loose-leaf tea in Vienna when she visited there. In one of the above pictures you can see the front of the tea tin, which has a picture of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on it. The Viennese are very proud of Mozart, who lived and worked in Vienna for most of his adulthood, even though he was born and raised in Salzburg (which is now part of Austria). Many of his best-known works were composed in Vienna.

A candle in a crystal candlestick, with a crystal bobeche with pendants, casts a romantic glow over the tea table.

People frequently comment on our three fireplaces. They are all original to the house and two of them still have their beautiful ceramic tile hearths.All of them have their original mantels also. They were originally coal-burning fireplaces and probably had beautiful fire-boxes. At some point in our house's long history, two of the fireplaces were converted to gas (this one and the one in our front entry hall). The gas has been long disconnected, however, and we do not use the fireplaces. We had been told that houses of this age did not have chimney liners and none were ever put in later either, which is very dangerous and a fire hazard. For this reason, we do not use them. Someday we plan to have the chimneys cleaned out and lined so that we might use them. I have a black, wrought iron candle stand with white pillar candles inside the fireplace, but I did not light the candles. (They are almost burned down all the way and I need more!)

Let's dim the lights! (The previous owners had a liking for dimmer switches and installed dimmers in many of the downstairs rooms---it's kind of nice actually!)

This picture looks like there's a flame right in the ostrich plume, but that's a reflection in the mirror!  :-)   I took this picture, however, to show how one part of the ostrich plume is a little charred; that happened two years ago during a party. One of my candles was a little too close to the feather!

Maybe we'll  listen to a little music on our Mandel upright phonograph (c. 1916-1917) while we have tea!

Thanks for joining me today for Tablescape Thursday! Be sure to view all the other great tablescapes, hosted by Susan over at Between Naps on the Porch!


Mandel Upright Cabinet Phonograph c.1916-1917 : purchased at an auction for $10. Still works!
Vintage linens: recent purchase at an antique shop in my area
Vintage silver tea pot, creamer and sugar bowl, part of a 5 pc set: $60 at a shop specializing in items acquired at estate sales.
Parlor chairs: Ladies chair, wedding gift, 2007, from an antique store. Gentleman's chair, given to me by my great aunt.