Given its clearly useful and day-to-day function, it's no wonder we've developed such a fascination with that most fundamental of kitchen accessories, the tea towel.

Used in some form or another since the invention of crockery and cutlery, it was with the increasing availability of textiles and sewing material in 18th century Britain, that tea towels progressed beyond being merely a functional item to dry the dishes - and developed into something far more creative.

Tea towels graced the highest tables of the land and were made of linen, a fibre derived from the flax of linseed plants. The soft texture of the fabric made them ideal for drying the expensive bone china preferred by the English upper classes, and tea towels were flourished with pride by the grand ladies of the time who were more than happy to do the drying up, not trusting their prized plates to their clumsy servants.

There's been a long tradition of decorating tea towels and using them for creative expression which, arguably has become more important to many people than their obvious functional utility. When materials are brought into the home.  We often want them to say something about our tastes with the items we have in our homes - whether that's clothing, furniture and furnishings or kitchen accessories.

Still an object of fascination in the 21st century, the tea towel is established as a canvas on which we can paint not just pretty designs, but our feelings, our thoughts and our beliefs.
At Radical Tea Towel, they decided this tradition was worth embracing - and building upon.  In today's more democratic times, they have produced a collection of fine tea towels with bold but timeless social and political commentary.  As well as being a great gift and something to spark a debate, you can of course always use a tea towel as originally intended - as a classic kitchen accessory.

Some of the key themes include...
Radical people from history... Rosa Parks, Clement Attlee, William Wilberforce and Nelson Mandela
Radical moments in history... The Tolpuddle Martyrs, The Kinder Mass Trespass, The Putney Debates, Battle of Cable Street
Radical literary figures... Jane Austen, George Orwell, Oscar Wilde, Charlotte Bronte
Radical feminism... Christina Rossetti, Votes for Women, Emily Wilding Davidson, Women's Suffrage

Made in Britain…
All tea towels are made using Half Panama unbleached cotton (heavy weight, textured finish).
Stitched on all four sides, includes hanging loop.
Measures approximately 48 x 70cm, machine wash at 40 degrees max.

All of Radical Tea Towel's tea towels are designed and printed in the UK and have undergone extensive testing with lots of different materials to find the right balance between image definition, strength, absorbency and colour longevity to produce a high-quality product that lasts – and that does its job efficiently and effectively- there's even a 100-day money-back guarantee!

As well as tea towels, the full range of homewares and gifts includes aprons, oven gloves, mugs and stationery.
See the full collection at www.radicalteatowel.co.uk
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Twitter - @radicalteatowel
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