Teapot
ca. 1680 (Made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Hexagonal body, swelling from the foot and contracting at the neck; cane-bound handle and spout imitating bamboo (hinged cover missing); domed lid surmounted by spray of plum blossom. The body, neck and lid are each formed of six panels of matted punching with figures, birds, trees, flowers and buildings in relief. The strips of silver around the base of the lid may have been added in the early nineteenth century to accommodate two inscriptions.
The teapot assays up to 921 parts per thousand, just below sterling standard.
The teapot assays up to 921 parts per thousand, just below sterling standard.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Silver, with cane-bound handle |
| Brief description | Teapot, silver, the handle bound with bamboo strips, China, around 1680, unmarked |
| Physical description | Hexagonal body, swelling from the foot and contracting at the neck; cane-bound handle and spout imitating bamboo (hinged cover missing); domed lid surmounted by spray of plum blossom. The body, neck and lid are each formed of six panels of matted punching with figures, birds, trees, flowers and buildings in relief. The strips of silver around the base of the lid may have been added in the early nineteenth century to accommodate two inscriptions. The teapot assays up to 921 parts per thousand, just below sterling standard. |
| Dimensions |
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| Marks and inscriptions | There are two inscriptions engraved on the lid in the same cursive script.
Engraved around the inside of the lid rim: 'Martha Putland 1753'
Engraved around the outside of the lid rim: 'To my sister Jane Roberts in acknowledgement of her affectionate regard 1832'
Numbers referring to the weight of the tea pot and lid are engraved in a different hand on the lid and on the base of the pot. |
| Credit line | Given by Mrs Aylmer Thornton |
| Object history | The teapot was given to the Museum in 1955, and according to the donor was said to have been purchased in China by a Colonel Putland (see the registered file for the object). It has sometimes been suggested that this was originally a Chinese tea cannister made in around 1680, and that the handle and spout were added in England in about 1750. Physical analysis of the teapot, however, undermines this theory. The analysis from the London assay office carried out in 1984 states that the body and spout are made from silver of the same standard, but the lid is made of a different grade of silver. It seems that the object was made as a teapot in China, and the lid may be a later replacement. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.69:1, 2-1955 |
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| Record created | September 10, 2004 |
| Record URL |
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