What's a "Tea basin"?

[GR2]

The key things about basins, according to the dictionary, is that they are circular and their width is greater than their depth. It doesn't specifically mention them as drinking vessels, but does give "A basin of tea" (1834) as an example of use. That usage certainly implies a drinking vessel rather than a slop basin. I have looked at the nine Georgian tea bowls in the house and they are all wider than they are deep. In comparison, all the cups with handles seem to have a width similar to their depth.

[Erato]

"Tea Equipage in 18th Century America.  ...  Often a medium-sized bowl, usually hemispherical in shape, is to be seen on the tea table, and it is most likely a slop bowl or basin.  According to advertisements these bowls and basins were available in silver, pewter, and ceramic. Before a teacup was replenished, the remaining tea and dregs were emptied into the slop bowl. Then the cup might be rinsed with hot water and the rinsing water discarded in the bowl."

https://colonialquills.blogspot.com/2015/10/tea-equipage-in-18th-century-america.html

[ThrelfallYorky]

... and I'm pretty sure exactly the same in Britain, Erato!

[Erato]

"and I'm pretty sure exactly the same in Britain, Erato!"

I'm sure that's true.  The custom of drinking tea and the necessary equipment were mostly imported.  Indeed, in the years leading up to the Revolutionary War, tea drinking was a mark of loyalist, Tory sympathies.  The Boston Tea Party wasn't just a protest against the tax on tea but also against the aristocratic, tea-drinking English culture that was imposed on the people of the colonies.

[Viktoria]

I remember the phrase”a dish of tea”, from a play,something like “ The School for Scandal” or “ The  Rivals”.
One of the characters asks another” Will you take a dish of tea?”
Mrs. Malaprop ?
Not absolutely sure though.
Viktoria

[Mike in Cumbria]

Tea basin.

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/65567932_blue-and-white-colored-tea-basin

[Maiden Stone]

Thanks, Mike. I'd envisaged a simple bowl.  Perhaps the men drank from the spout.

[Mike in Cumbria]

Thanks, Mike. I'd envisaged a simple bowl.  Perhaps the men drank from the spout.

It does seem rather fancy for what is, in effect, a slop bucket.

[Mike in Cumbria]

I remember the phrase”a dish of tea”, from a play,something like “ The School for Scandal” or “ The  Rivals”.
One of the characters asks another” Will you take a dish of tea?”
Mrs. Malaprop ?
Not absolutely sure though.
Viktoria

It is a line from "Double Dealer" by William Congreve, 1694.