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. English creamware cylindrical tea canister (cover missing) decorated in blue. The body has a short neck, sloping shoulders, and straight sides. The sides are decorated with a chinoiserie landscape in blue with a tall tree, building, and running fence.
Subjects: Pottery; glaze (coating by location) Link to share this object record: https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+58.154 |