George III silver tea caddy
date: label: Date
content: 1805
name: label: Manufactured by
content: Thomas Johnson, English, active ca. 1805 - 1820
notes: label: Description
content: 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. One is a lion passant within a square cartouche to indicate the material of sterling silver. A second mark is the London date letter, in this case a letter “K" within a square. The third mark is a George III duty mark that consists of a profile of the bust of the monarch within a truncated oval. The fourth mark is the markers mark that consists of the initials "TJ" in a rectangle cartouche. The lion passant and the London date mark also appear on the inside of the caddy lid.
place: label: Place made
content: London, England, Europe
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: British colonialism
label: Topic
content: Commerce
label: Topic
content: Cooking and dining
label: Topic
content: Design
label: Topic
content: Domestic life
label: Topic
content: Economics
label: Topic
content: Slave trade
label: Topic
content: Slavery
label: Topic
content: Sugarcane
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Decorative Arts, Craft, and Design
label: Exhibition
content: Slavery and Freedom
label: On View
content: NMAAHC (1400 Constitution Ave NW), National Mall Location, Concourse 3, C3 053
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2020.22
objectType: label: Type
content: tea caddies
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Public domain
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: silver , bone , wood
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 6 × 7 × 5 in. (15.2 × 17.8 × 12.7 cm)