Tea - James Tissot
Archival giclée
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Description
A detailed oil painting by James Tissot depicting a woman preparing tea in a London interior overlooking the Thames.
James Tissot painted Tea during his period of residence in London, following his departure from Paris after the Franco-Prussian War. The work depicts a young woman in a contemporary Victorian dress, positioned within a room that overlooks the Thames. She is engaged in the ritual of preparing tea, with a silver samovar and a delicate porcelain service arranged on a wooden table before her. Tissot demonstrates his technical precision in the rendering of the fabric textures, from the dark, ruffled bodice to the patterned skirt, and the fine lace gloves worn by the subject.
The composition utilises the window as a framing device, allowing a view of the river and the masts of ships beyond. This juxtaposition of the domestic interior with the industrialised activity of the London docks is characteristic of Tissot's approach to genre painting. The light enters from the side, filtered through wooden blinds, which creates a controlled atmosphere and casts soft shadows across the table. The artist captures a specific social moment, focusing on the material culture of the upper-middle class in the late nineteenth century. The attention to the metallic sheen of the tea service and the precise details of the woman's hat reflects Tissot's interest in the fashion and social habits of his era. The painting remains a clear record of the aesthetic and social environment of the time, presented with a measured, observational quality.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
Care and materials
Specific Features
Every Solis piece is made to order with archival, gallery-quality materials built to last.
- Museum-grade giclée printing for rich, fade-resistant colour
- Archival matte fine-art paper, FSC-certified
- Multiple sizes and framing options available
- Frames in black, natural wood, dark wood or white
- Framed prints arrive ready to hang
Care & Cleaning
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- Dust gently with a soft, dry cloth
- Avoid prolonged direct sunlight
- Never use liquid cleaners on the print or canvas surface
- Keep in a dry, room-temperature space
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Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Tea - James Tissot
Artist Biography
James Tissot
He grew up in the port city of Nantes, the son of a milliner and dressmaker. His mother's trade shows in the paintings: nobody in nineteenth-century art rendered fabric, lace, ribbons and the cut of a sleeve with more attention than Tissot. He studied in Paris under Hippolyte Flandrin and exhibited at the Salon from 1859, shifting quickly from medieval subjects to modern life.
He fought in the Franco-Prussian War and was implicated in the Paris Commune of 1871, though the extent of his involvement remains unclear. What is clear is that he left Paris in a hurry after Bloody Week and turned up in London, where his detailed paintings of Victorian society made him wealthy within a few years. The English liked his work because it showed them as they wished to be seen: well-dressed, leisured, and slightly mysterious. The sexual tension in many of his compositions, the glances exchanged between men and women across the rigid codes of Victorian propriety, is always present and never explicit.
He drew caricatures for Vanity Fair under the pseudonym Coide. He was also a serious collector of Japanese art, and the influence of Japanese composition and textile patterns runs through his work alongside the European tradition.
In London he began a relationship with Kathleen Newton, an Irishwoman who became his constant model and companion until her death from tuberculosis in 1882. He returned to Paris after she died and spent his final years painting a monumental series of 350 gouaches illustrating the life of Christ, based on research trips to the Middle East.
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