A pentagonal pewter tea caddy with floral decorations.
Previous image 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 / 7 Next image

Unknown Maker, Chinese

Tea Caddy

Maker

Unknown Maker, Chinese

Culture

Chinese

Title

Tea Caddy

Year

1800s

Medium

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

Materials

pewter

Geography

Origin: China

Dimensions

22.9 x 13.3 x 12.1 cm (9 x 5 1/4 x 4 3/4 inches)

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Bequest of John F. Street

Object Number

40.017.16

Type

Exhibition History

Trading Earth
Ceramics, Commodities, and Commerce
Apr 09, 2022 – Aug 03, 2025

Label copy

Tea plants are expensive to produce: they must grow for three years before they are ready for harvest, and even then only the top inch or two of the plant is picked. The costly nature of this commodity is seen in the especially small scale of teapots made in the 1700s (the size of which increased in the 1800s) and the use of tea caddies designed for secure and proper storage.

Image use

The images on this website can enable discovery and collaboration and support new scholarship, and we encourage their use.

Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

Unknown Maker, Chinese
Tea Caddy, 1800s
Pewter
22.9 x 13.3 x 12.1 cm (9 x 5 1/4 x 4 3/4 inches)
Bequest of John F. Street 40.017.16

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.