How posh is your tea towel?
When the National Portrait Gallery in London reopened its doors in 2023 following a three-year, £41.3-million renovation project, one of the most striking innovations was a new entrance on Ross Place. Standing sentinel at that entrance are three monumental bronze doors, covered in 45 panels created by Tracey Emin. According to the artist these bas-reliefs are all portraits of women representing 'every woman, every age and every culture throughout time'. Now you can take some of the portraits home with you — and dry your mugs with them.
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Tracey Emin has collaborated with the National Portrait Gallery shop on a range of three tea towels (£15 each), each one featuring a reproduction of one of Emin's preparatory drawings for the entrance doors. The aim of these portraits was to counterbalance the original roundels displayed on the gallery's façade that depicted prominent male figures. 'Women in history are greatly underrepresented. I didn't want to depict specific or identifiable figures,' Emin explained at the time of the commission. 'I want people to stand in front of the doors and say, 'She looks like my mother, she looks like my best friend, my daughter.''
The panels for the gallery's doors were cast in bronze from Emin's own drawings. As such they make fantastically graphic, evocative images for reproduction on homeware. The tea towel collaboration follows on the heels of Emin's previous collection for the National Portrait Gallery shop, which saw some of her portraits reproduced on a plate, mugs and a jug. There is a stoic beauty — filtered by Emin's signature raw, unflinching eye — to each of the portraits selected for the new tea towel range. With their diadems, crowns and exaggerated shoulders, the figures might be Roman matrons, warrior women or creatures of myth — but they are also archetypes that women might recognise not only in those around them but in facets of their own personalities.
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One design, featuring the word 'Mum', the only one that guides what we are perhaps meant to see, is sure to make an excellent gift for many an artistic, house-proud mother. Rendered in deep blue on a stark white background, the images recall the brushstrokes of Emin's preparatory acrylics. Exclusive to the National Portrait Gallery shop, the organic cotton, UK-made tea towels also feature a reproduction of the artist's signature.
If these have whetted your appetite for a chic tea towel, here are ten of the most luxurious, exclusive tea towels you can buy now:
You can find culinary inspiration while you're doing the dishes with this Burberry tea towel. Get stuck into the quintessentially British beef Wellington with this hand-drawn illustration of the dish plus ingredient list and instructions. The design is laid out on a matching, classic Burberry-check backdrop. The Italian-made linen/cotton towel is accompanied by a plain white tea towel with complementary logo banner in this two-towel set. Also available featuring Eton Mess. £120, burberry.com
Every Christmas since 2018 the designer and socialite Nicky Haslam has produced a tea towel featuring a list of things he finds common. This, the inaugural version, features such controversial gems as 'saying bye bye' and 'most young royals', although we can probably all agree on 'living statues'. Keep your tongue firmly in your cheek in the kitchen. Designed by Nicky Haslam Studio Ltd and exclusive to Selfridges. £50, selfridges.com
Add a touch of whimsy to your washing-up with this linen tea towel featuring an illustration inspired by Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The Cheshire Cat grins from its perch on a tree branch while Alice sprouts ears and a tail. £18.95, fortnumandmason.com
These wonderfully graphic lapis blue and leaf green tea towels come in a bold gingham pattern. Stamperia Bertozzi has been making hand-painted and block-printed table linen since 1920. The dyes used are created from vegetal bases to a secret recipe passed down through three generations. £70, abask.com
The French luxury linen brand, founded in 1845, is known for its craftsmanship and elegant, poetic designs. Such is the case with this tea towel, which evokes the splendour of a fireworks display at Versailles. Golden flurries shoot across a deep blue sky in a spectacle that would have pleased even Louis XIV. Crafted from 100 per cent organic cotton and made in France, the tea towel adds a touch of splendour to the everyday. Also available in cream. £45, yvesdelorme.com
There's something about a lobster that screams extravagance — and this tea towel is no exception. This dapper little fellow, inspired by an illustration created for a 1938 catalogue called Entertaining Made Easy by WM Hendy, who worked for Punch magazine, is a decadent delight. Designed in Fortnum's signature eau de nil, the lobster wears a tiny red top hat and balances a pink and red ball on one of his whiskers — entertaining made easy indeed. £15.95, fortnumandmason.com
Find yourself instantly transported to the deep south of France with Les Toiles du Soleil, a brand that has been producing vibrant, striped fabrics and homeware since 1897 in St Laurent de Cerdans, close to the Spanish border. This set of three tea towels is made on historic shuttle looms, a process that creates particularly durable fabric — handy for those serious about their cuisine. £43, lestoilesdusoleil.com
Tea towels are often food and drink themed. For a more cerebral approach there is this playful design that doubles as a chessboard. Handmade in India, the 100 per cent linen towels are crafted with eco-friendly pigments and produced in small quantities. £36, maisonflaneur.com
If classic is more your thing, these green-and-white-striped tea towels from Daylesford are made in India from certified organic cotton. As at home in the kitchen as they are by the barbecue. £12, daylesford.com
The Proust Questionnaire is a modern invention inspired by a list of questions popularised by Marcel Proust as part of a parlour game. Questions include 'what is your idea of perfect happiness?' and 'how would you like to die?' Something to consider while you do the dishes. €26, merci-merci.com
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