Description: With no Chinese porcelain protypes 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 pearlware round tea canister (cover missing) decorated with black transfer prints. The sloped shoulder has a neo-classical band; and the sides have two large oval prints, one with three woman in classical garb (possibly the three graces) and the other with a woman and her attendant in a chariot drawn by four horses, both surrounded with flowers.
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+82.052 |