American Market Tea Caddy Decorated with Flower Basket in Landscape
1780-1800
Physical Qualities
Porcelain with underglaze cobalt and overglaze gilt decoration, 5 x 3 1/4 x 1 5/8 in. (12.7 x 8.3 x 4.1 cm.)
Credit Line
Dorothy McIlvain Scott Collection
Object Number
2012.430.2
The Chinese stored tea in jars, not flat-sided
bottles such this one, which is based on the shape of a medicine bottle. The word “caddy” came from kati, a Malay-Chinese word for the measure of tea leaves (1 1/3 pounds) that filled a single compartment in a wooden box.
The Baltimore Museum of Art by bequest, 2012; Dorothy McIlvain Scott, Baltimore
