Tea was a precious commodity because of its high cost, and the very small size of early canisters reflected this when they were introduced during the final years of the seventeenth century. It is thought that the shape of the early silver tea canister imitated the shape of the Oriental stoppered jars of porcelain then being imported, because they looked rather like metal jars with a flat, rectangular base, and undecorated straight sides which curved in at the shoulders to a circular neck fitted with a slip-on, rounded cap. A late seventeenth century example might be only three inches high, but by Queen Anne’s reign they were generally taller. (more…)

Sauceboats were among the pieces of domestic silver which emerged during the second decade of the eighteenth century, possibly because George I introduced certain types of sauces to England at that time. Early examples had a pouring lip on either side of the vessel, in between which were two scroll handles. Rococo sauceboats were beautifully ornate and by the 1740s the earlier moulded base was surpassed in fashion by three or four cast feet in ornamental shapes, while the outline of the vessel evolved into an oval or bombe form which was concurrently in use for tureens. The delightfully elaborate scroll handle, positioned opposite the pouring lip, was one of the major attractions of the sauceboat of this period. (more…)

Chambersticks

Modest and practical, the silver chamberstick was in use during the seventeenth century, but examples are not generally found before the last quarter of the century. In the line of the old nursery rhyme, ‘Here comes a candle to light you to bed’, the words refer to a chamberstick which consisted of a saucer-shaped base for safety, with a short candle-socket in its centre, and a simple handle by which to carry it around the house. Larger homes might later have an assortment of such chambersticks set upon a table in the hall, a person taking one when it was needed and lighting it from a special master taper. Usually made of a lighter metal, the diameter of the saucer-shaped dish varied but generally measured about six inches, the short socket standing about three inches high. Most late seventeenth and eighteenth century examples would have a shapely scroll handle soldered beneath the base and curving upwards. (more…)

Over three hundred years of tea-drinking in this country has left us a wonderful selection of things used in connection with tea—and also a wonderfulconfusion about some of them. So one ought first to try to distinguish between terms like tea caddy, canister, chest, and teapoy.

Tea was enormously expensive when it first arrived here, so it was put away in a canister, usually of silver. For more security, and also because it was much grander, these canisters would be kept in a trunk-shaped box covered with leather and shagreen, and later in a tea-chest. (more…)