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Dutch Tea-Drinking Fashion
After the Dutch East India Company imported tea from Asia in the early 17th century, tea drinking became fashionable among Dutch high society and urb…
Timeline
- c. 1610–1625Amsterdam · NetherlandsThe Dutch East India Company shipped tea from Bantang, Fujian, and elsewhere to Amsterdam; initially sold in apothecaries as a luxury good, it was expensive and reserved for wealthy merchants and nobles to sample.
- 1631–1640The Hague–Delft · NetherlandsTea imports rose in the 1630s, and tea-reception customs appeared in The Hague, Delft, and elsewhere; Chinese porcelain, silverware, sugar, and lemon became standard tea accompaniments, with women and the burgher class joining this display-oriented consumption.
- 1650–1700Rotterdam · NetherlandsThe Dutch tea-drinking model influenced France, northern Germany, and England through port trade and migration, laying the groundwork for the further spread of European tea culture in the 18th century.
Sources
- Pettigrew, Jane. A Social History of Tea — Jane Pettigrew (2001)
- Boxer, C.R. The Dutch Seaborne Empire 1600–1800 — C.R. Boxer (1965)