Tea Service

Elaine Wormser used her bedroom as a sitting room and recalled that she would often have tea with her girlfriends there using this Russian tea service. The service’s blanks, or undecorated porcelain forms, were made when the porcelain factory was under imperial control. Following the Russian Revolution, the factory was nationalized in 1917 and created wares that enforced Soviet propaganda. How the service became part of the Wormser Bedroom is unclear. Whether added by Urban or Elaine, the tea set certainly suited Urban’s aesthetic for the bedroom. As the artist who painted its bold, floral decoration referenced the joy and color of Russian folk traditions, Urban invoked his own Viennese design heritage to create this modern, sophisticated, light-spirited interior.