An exhibition of 18th century tea memorabilia opens at the Bishop’s Palace Museum in Waterford City tomorrow.

‘For All the Tea in China’ features over one hundred items including pieces of 300-year-old Chinese porcelain.

The exhibition will be launched by Oxford Professor and Tramore Native Louise Richardson, who was recently granted the Freedom of Waterford.

Eamonn McEneaney,  Director of the Waterford Museum of Treasures, explains that each of the beautifully-decorated pieces is emblazoned with the arms of a wealthy Irish family who, to signal their good taste and refinement and most important of all their status in society, commissioned bespoke tea and coffee sets and dinner services from China, where virtuoso craftsmen produced the finest porcelain in the world.  Only the very wealthy had the resources and patience to commission such luxury items that could took up to three years to arrive in wooden  sailing ships at the docks in Ireland, for delivery onwards to the commissioning client.

The 18^thcentury trade in armorial porcelain was a by-product of the trade in tea from China, a beverage that became very fashionable after 1660 when Catherine of Braganza wife of King Charles II popularised the drink among the ruling class in both England and Ireland.  Tea was a luxury, expensive item so the early porcelain tea cups were extraordinarily small. The early tea cups were without handles in the Chinese fashion.  Leaf tea was so valued that it was stored by the lady of the house in a locked silver tea canister to prevent the servants from helping themselves to the rare and much sought after beverage.  ‘Tea for the classes, buttermilk for the masses.’

The porcelain is beautifully displayed alongside contemporary Irish silver and furniture helping to place it in its correct historic context.  What adds greatly to the exhibition is that in some cases both the porcelain and silverware are from the same family and therefore would have in another age graced the same table. The silver is emblazoned – as is the porcelain – with the armorial bearings of the commissioning families. Many of the porcelain services were commissioned as wedding gifts and consequently bear the armorials of both the husband and wife.

What is so refreshing about Waterford’s approach to heritage is that authenticity, international conservation standards, original painstaking research and a sense of civic pride and passion permeate everything that is undertaken.  It is no wonder that Waterford is quickly becoming the cultural capital of Ireland’s Ancient East. The city’s imaginative and authentic celebration of its history not only makes our cultural heritage accessible but also engaging and enjoyable.

Waterford Treasures Museum’s ambition is palpable.  It has not only brought the people of the city and county with it and has inspired very sizeable generous financial donations but also donations of remarkable world-class museum objects.  In May the Bishop’s Palace will, thanks to the generosity of Lord and Lady Waterford, open an exhibition of illuminated 18^thcentury royal charters.  Also in May, thanks to generous funding from Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s Ancient East and extraordinarily generous donations of historic Waterford glass from Mrs Ann O’Brien and others, a new exhibition on old Waterford Glass will be opened – one of the largest in the world.  The highlight of the new exhibition will be the ten-branch 18^th century Waterford chandelier on loan from the National Museum of Ireland. It hangs above the dining table in the Bishop’s Palace complementing the old Waterford glass dessert service.

The museum has built on the remarkable success of the King of the Vikings Virtual Reality Adventure opened two years ago and # 1 on Tripadvisor.  Similarly the story of glassmaking in Waterford will be brought to life in a most imaginative 17 minute 4D presentation that both enthrals and bewitches in the new exhibition to be opened at the end of May thanks to generous financial support from Fáilte Ireland, Ireland’s Ancient East.

This Winter Waterford Treasures will open Ireland’s only Clock and Watch Museum at Greyfriars thanks to the generous donation of two museum-quality collections of clocks and watches.  The Irish collection of timepieces dates from 1690 to the 1890s and is a gift of Mrs Elizabeth Clooney and Mr Colman Curran.  The second collection, the gift of Mr David Boles, consists of both Irish and European timepieces the earliest dating to 1551.  To complement these early technological masterpieces Mr Boles has also donated twelve very beautiful and remarkable mechanical musical instruments dating from 1800 to the early 20^thcentury most of which were made for the Irish market. This new museum is made possible thanks to the extraordinarily generous support of private and corporate benefactors, the Tomar Trust, Friends of Waterford Treasures, The Friends of the National Collections of Ireland and generous grant-aid from the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

In Winter also, thanks to the very generous donation – under Section 1003 of the Finance Act – of very significant collections of 17^th and 18^th century Irish silver both provincial and of Dublin, Ireland’s only dedicated silver museum will be opened in the Deanery next to the award-winning Medieval Museum. The Deanery is built above Ireland’s oldest wine vault.  The new museum will trace the use of silver in Ireland from the Vikings to the Victorians and will feature some very beautiful and remarkable examples of the silversmith’s art.

Also a new and very imaginative experience will open in Cathedral Square – in a former alms house built in 1467 – that will chronicle the Irish Wake through the centuries. This quirky experience is supported by the Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht and the Heritage Council. Again the emphasis here is on the authentic.  The authenticity of what has already been achieved in the three museums already in existence will guarantee its viability into the future.  What Waterford has is real, how it communicates it is imaginative and how it engages with the public is exemplary.  It is no wonder that in 2018 over twice the population of the city almost 100,000 paid to experience an engaging cultural experience in Waterford Treasures attractions all of which are located in the city’s historic core known as the Viking Triangle.  Waterford City and County Council’s track record is second to none in its longstanding commitment to the promotion and support of cultural heritage.