George III silver tea caddy

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A George III silver tea caddy with an oval body with ribbed decoration by Thomas Johnson, London. It has a hinged lid with a three tier-stepped dome. The bottom, widest tier has a wide flat lip that flares slightly upwards. At the top of the oval lid is a knob which consists of a flat white disc, possibly carved bone, topped by a silver finial. The finial on the lid is pushed to one side slightly. The lid has a keyhole on the opposite side of the hinges. The body of the caddy is bulbous, with long incised lines creating vertical ridges running the circumference of the container. The bottom of the caddy has a low base with incised vertical lines. On the underside of the caddy the flat bottom is scratched with wear marks as well as numbers and letters. There are also four silver marks stamped into the bottom.

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