Description: With no Chinese porcelain protoypes to copy, British ceramic tea canisters of the 18th century took several different forms. They are mostly, however, square or octagonal with a wide cylindrical lip, and seem to derive from the japanned metal canisters used for displaying and dispensing tea and coffee in grocers' shops. By contrast, smarter tea canisters of glass or silver tended to copy the wooden tea chest, complete with its wavy metal edging and corners. Only later in the century was the little baluster-shaped canister copied by English porcelain factories (for example, Worcester) which imitated Chinese vase-like versions made solely for export. Dutch-decorated, circular English creamware tea canister and cover with an applied, reclining flower knob with a bud and leaf terminal. The tea canister was made in Staffordshire or Yorkshire, and then exported to Holland where it was decorated by Dutch enamellers. The canister is decorated in green, red, and yellow with painted flowers on the lid and shoulders, and two chinoiserie scenes on the sides: One of a large floral spray in a basket, and the other of a building near the water where part of a boat appears.
Subjects: Pottery; Enamel and enameling; glaze (coating by location) Link to share this object record: https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+57.191 |