Tea Urn
ca. 1790 (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
The tea-urn kept the water warm so that the hostess could replenish the tea kettle and refresh the tea leaves. The tea-urn heated by a charcoal burner made its appearance in the 1760s. It superseded the tea kettle and spirit burner, possibly because of the unpleasant burning qualities of most fuels available in the 1760s, other than the rather expensive spirits of wine. Tea-urns were not made of Sheffield plate, a fusion of copper and silver, until 1785.
This tea-urn makes use of the discovery, patented by John Wadham in 1774, that a heated bar of cast iron, inserted in a tube within the body round which the water flowed, acted almost as efficiently as an external charcoal burner. The new system meant that the burner was no longer necessary, which allowed for a more elegant design.
Thomas Boulsover developed Sheffield plate in about 1742. He fused bars of silver and copper, in unequal proportions, by heating them under pressure. The resulting material could be rolled into sheets of laminated metal and worked like silver. The Sheffield plate industry flourished for approximately one hundred years until electroplating superseded it in the 1840s.
This tea-urn makes use of the discovery, patented by John Wadham in 1774, that a heated bar of cast iron, inserted in a tube within the body round which the water flowed, acted almost as efficiently as an external charcoal burner. The new system meant that the burner was no longer necessary, which allowed for a more elegant design.
Thomas Boulsover developed Sheffield plate in about 1742. He fused bars of silver and copper, in unequal proportions, by heating them under pressure. The resulting material could be rolled into sheets of laminated metal and worked like silver. The Sheffield plate industry flourished for approximately one hundred years until electroplating superseded it in the 1840s.
Object details
| Categories | |
| Object type | |
| Parts | This object consists of 2 parts.
|
| Materials and techniques | Sheffield plate |
| Brief description | Tea urn and lid, Sheffield plate, ca. 1790, English |
| Physical description | Vase shaped, gadrooned: squat circular body with a lion mask and ring handle on either side. Square base with borders of bright cut engraving; on four feet, polygonal tap with green ivory knob; the lid is finished with a globular knob. The shoulder is decorated with an applied silver band engraved with a floral scroll. On the front is a shield bearing a crest and motto between flowers. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Production type | Mass produced |
| Production | Reason For Production: Retail |
| Summary | The tea-urn kept the water warm so that the hostess could replenish the tea kettle and refresh the tea leaves. The tea-urn heated by a charcoal burner made its appearance in the 1760s. It superseded the tea kettle and spirit burner, possibly because of the unpleasant burning qualities of most fuels available in the 1760s, other than the rather expensive spirits of wine. Tea-urns were not made of Sheffield plate, a fusion of copper and silver, until 1785. This tea-urn makes use of the discovery, patented by John Wadham in 1774, that a heated bar of cast iron, inserted in a tube within the body round which the water flowed, acted almost as efficiently as an external charcoal burner. The new system meant that the burner was no longer necessary, which allowed for a more elegant design. Thomas Boulsover developed Sheffield plate in about 1742. He fused bars of silver and copper, in unequal proportions, by heating them under pressure. The resulting material could be rolled into sheets of laminated metal and worked like silver. The Sheffield plate industry flourished for approximately one hundred years until electroplating superseded it in the 1840s. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | M.106-1912 |
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| Record created | September 23, 2002 |
| Record URL |
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