The Cup of Tea
Mary Cassatt·1880
Historical Context
The Cup of Tea (1880, Metropolitan Museum of Art) is a quintessential Cassatt interior of Haussmannian Paris — a well-dressed woman in a drawing room, engaged in the ritual of afternoon tea. The cup of tea was both a social practice and a symbol: imported from Britain, associated with leisure, feminine sociability, and domestic refinement. Cassatt painted several versions of this subject in the early 1880s, exploring the visual possibilities of reflective china, warm interior light, and the quiet absorption of solitary women in domestic tasks.
Technical Analysis
Cassatt uses the reflective white china tea service to create points of maximum brightness in the composition, contrasting with the warm, richly colored dress and interior. The brushwork is fluid and assured, with the background furniture and room details loosely suggested to maintain focus on the figure and her small ritual.
