Tea caddy, painted enamels and gold on copper, Guangzhou, China, , ca. 1700-1853

Tea caddy with foliated sides and a lid. The copper body is exposed on the upper and lower edges of the sides and lid. The top of the lid is decorated with a single pink flower against a blue ground. The neck of the lid is painted with scrolling pink decoration against a lighter pink ground. The shoulder of the caddy is painted with scrolling blue decoration against a white ground, seperated from the exposed metal edge of the shoulder by a pink band set against a white ground.

Each side of the caddy is decorated with a central cartouche with foliated edges. The exterior border of each cartouche is demarked by a thin brown line on a white ground. The interior border of the cartouche is demarked by a thicker pink line. The interior of the cartouche is decorated with scrolling floral decoration with pink flowers, and green leaves and stems, outlined in black on a yellow ground. Blue and turquoise enamels have been used in the centre of some of the flowers.

Above the cartouche the side of the tea caddy is decorated with pink scrolls on a lighter pink ground. Below the cartouche the side of the caddy is decorated with black scrolls highlighted in gold on a light blue ground. The upper and lower borders of the side of the caddy are decorated with a thick blue line set between two thin brown lines on a white ground.

Purchased from the Bandinel collection

Purchased from the Bandinel Collection, accessioned in 1853. This acquisition information reflects that found in the Asia Department registers, as part of a 2022 provenance research project.

Painted enamels of this kind were commonly known in English as 'Canton enamel', after the main centre of their production in South China. They were popular in the 18th and 19th centuries. These copper wares were also produced in Beijing for imperial consumption. In Chinese they were referred to as 'foreign porcelain' (yangci 洋瓷).

561-1853