L'heure du thé

L'heure du thé (Tea Time) depicts the afternoon ritual of tea that structured bourgeois French domestic time in the English manner that became widespread in France in the late nineteenth century. Tea time — with its tray, cups, perhaps a small table — was a specifically feminine domestic ritual of hospitality and sociability. Vuillard depicted tea scenes across his career from the modest apartment of his Nabi years to the grander settings of the Hessel establishment, always treating the tea service as both still life subject and social document.

The tea tray with its cups and pot provides a focal still life element within the domestic scene. Vuillard renders the reflective and translucent qualities of the china with careful observation of light on curved surfaces. The figures are integrated into the domestic setting with his characteristic pattern-merging approach.