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This container, with its tightly fitting lid, would have been used to keep tea leaves fresh. It combines two different materials. The interior of the caddy is made of tortoiseshell, possibly acquired in Dutch overseas colonies in southeast Asia. After the tortoiseshell arrived in the Netherlands, a Zwolle-based silversmith named Hendrik Voet added a thin silver engraving, which he laid on the surface, connected to the underlying material with small pins. The play between the bright, reflective silver and the translucent tortoiseshell is striking.
Tea-caddy
Dutch (Zwolle)
about 1700
Object Place: Europe, Paris, France
Medium/Technique
Tortoiseshell, with silver inlay, silver mounts; wooden core and inset base
Dimensions
10.7 x 7.4 x 4.7 cm (4 3/16 x 2 15/16 x 1 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Elizabeth Parke Firestone and Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. Collection
Accession Number1993.452a-b
CollectionsEurope
ClassificationsSilver
This container, with its tightly fitting lid, would have been used to keep tea leaves fresh. It combines two different materials. The interior of the caddy is made of tortoiseshell, possibly acquired in Dutch overseas colonies in southeast Asia. After the tortoiseshell arrived in the Netherlands, a Zwolle-based silversmith named Hendrik Voet added a thin silver engraving, which he laid on the surface, connected to the underlying material with small pins. The play between the bright, reflective silver and the translucent tortoiseshell is striking.
DescriptionRectangular canister with inset wooden base. The sides are panels of tortoiseshell inlaid with engraved silver held within a silver frame. The two large sides depict a man in Asian costume under an umbrella, and a woman in Asian costume with a teapot offering a cup to a child under an exotic tree. The short sides depict a man and a woman under exotic trees. The silver lid is cylindrical with a ball finial.
Marks
Unidentified mark of a boar's head facing right on side of cover and neck
InscriptionsDischarge mark of Julien Berthe; "348" carved into wood bottom
ProvenanceMay 5, 1960, sold by S. J. Phillips, London (dealer) to Elizabeth Parke Firestone (b. 1897 - d. 1990) and Harvey S. Firestone, Jr. (b. 1898 - d. 1973), Akron, OH and Newport, RI; 1993; gift of the estate of Elizabeth Parke Firestone and Harvey S. Firestone, Jr., to the MFA. (Accession Date: May 26, 1993)