Tea canister, one of a pair
Date1750 (dated)
OriginEngland, London
MediumTin-glazed earthenware (delft)
DimensionsH:3 3/4"
Credit LineMuseum Purchase
Object number1981-48,1
DescriptionOblong rectangular canister with convex recessed angles. Cover missing. Blue tin glaze with blue powder ground; reserves in blue underglaze painted with Chinese figures in landscapes and flower sprays. On the top, two small reserves painted with trees and two fan-shaped reserves inscribed "Bohea Tea." Oval cylindrical openings in the top.Label TextThe numerals on a small glazed patch on the bottom of this canister are not completely clear, but most likely they represent the date 1750. The very fine powder of the blue ground suggests a London attribution. The usual twentieth-century term for this form is tea caddie, but tea canister, tea bottle, and tea jar were the terms used in the eighteenth-century. A tea caddie was the wooden box in which tea canisters were fitted, especially those made of silver or glass.
The top of this canister is inscribed "Bohea / Tea." Its mate in marked "Green / Tea."
Inscribed"Bohea / Tea" inscribed on top. "1750" (probably) indistinctly inscribed on base.
MarkingsNo
ProvenanceL. L. Lipski
Jellinek & Sampson Antiques, London
1740-1760
1765-1775
1765-1770
ca. 1740
ca. 1740
ca. 1770
ca. 1730
18th century
1770-1780
ca. 1700
1758-1769
1750-1775