Dish with a scene of tea cultivation (one of a pair)

Unknown

ca. 1740–45 · Hard-paste porcelain painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze (Jingdezhen ware) · European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

This dish depicts several stages in the production of metal canisters intended to contain tea. These cylindrical containers were used to transport tea to Canton, where it was repacked in metal-lined wooden chests for shipment to Europe and elsewhere.

Artist

Unknown

Date

ca. 1740–45

Medium

Hard-paste porcelain painted with cobalt blue under transparent glaze (Jingdezhen ware)

Culture

Chinese, for European, probably Dutch, market

Department

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

Credit line

Helena Woolworth McCann Collection, Purchase, Winfield Foundation Gift, 1971