Description:
Chinese export wooden tea box used to hold store tea for shipping from Canton to America. Most tea boxes were plain and utilitarian, but some were undoubtedly kept for their beauty and exoticism. The exterior hinged lid and four sides are decorated with Chinese motifs in black paint; the front side has a scene with a woman looking out a round window at a standing man directing a kneeling man in the garden. The interior of the lid is covered with a sheet of brown paper decorated in watercolors with a humming bird and flowers. The box has a partial lock plate on the front and two bail handles on the sides.

Subjects:
Textile fabrics; Copper; Watercolor painting

Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+69.0701

Research on objects in the collections, including provenance, is ongoing and may be incomplete. If you have additional information or would like to learn more about a particular object, please email fc-museums-web@fivecolleges.edu.