Parts of a Tea Set – Teapot, Creamer, Sugar Bowl, Caddy

All 11 pieces on the diagram

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Making and pouring the tea 5

Teapot The pot the tea is brewed in and poured from.
Hot water kettle It keeps water hot at the table, over a lamp.
Tea strainer It catches loose leaves as the tea is poured.
Tea caddy (canister) The container that holds the dry tea leaves.
Slop bowl (waste bowl) A plain bowl for cold tea and dregs from the cups.

For each cup 6

Teacup A small cup with a handle, for drinking the tea.
Saucer The shallow dish that the teacup stands on.
Teaspoon A small spoon for stirring the tea in the cup.
Sugar bowl A bowl for the sugar, often with a lid.
Creamer (milk jug) A small jug for the cream or milk.
Sugar tongs Small tongs for lifting lumps of sugar into a cup.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-09-30, a name kept only where two independent sources use it. (1) Wikipedia, text only: Tea set (teapot, sugar bowl, creamer or milk jug, teacups and saucers, slop basin or slop bowl, tea canister or tea caddy, hot-water kettle with a spirit lamp, sugar tongs, tea strainer, teaspoons), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tea_set. (2) Rodris Roth, Tea Drinking in 18th-Century America: Its Etiquette and Equipage, United States National Museum Bulletin 225 (Smithsonian Institution, 1961), read in full as Project Gutenberg ebook 46775 (teapot, slop bowl, container for milk or cream, tea canister, sugar container, tongs, teaspoons, cups and saucers, hot water kettle on a lamp or burner, tea strainers), https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/46775. Hints and detail lines are in our own words. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-09-30 from plain geometry; no maker's product, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

A tea set (tea service) is a group of matching pieces for making and serving tea. This drawing names eleven of them, from the teapot and teacup to the slop bowl and the tea caddy.

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What each piece is for

Dry tea leaves are kept in the tea caddy. The tea is brewed in the teapot, and a hot water kettle on its lamp keeps water hot at the table for making weaker tea. A tea strainer catches the leaves as the tea is poured. Each person has a teacup on a saucer, with a teaspoon. The creamer holds cream or milk, and sugar tongs lift lumps from the sugar bowl. Before a cup is filled again, cold tea and dregs are tipped into the slop bowl.

Sugar bowl or slop bowl? The sugar bowl usually has a lid. The slop bowl is plain and open.
Teapot or kettle? The kettle has a handle over the top and holds only water.

Questions and answers

What are the pieces of a tea set called?

A basic set has a teapot, a sugar bowl, a creamer or milk jug, and teacups with saucers. A fuller service adds a slop bowl, a tea caddy, a tea strainer, sugar tongs, teaspoons and a hot water kettle.

What is the extra bowl in a tea set for?

It is a slop bowl, also called a slop basin or waste bowl. Cold tea and dregs left in a cup are tipped into it before the cup is filled again.

What is the small jug in a tea set called?

A creamer, or milk jug. It holds the cream or milk. Many sets also have a hot water jug, so that the tea can be made weaker.

What is a tea caddy?

A container for dry tea leaves, also called a tea canister. In the eighteenth century the caddy was the box that a set of canisters was kept in.