Tea caddy with spoon (one of a set of three)
1762–63
Medium
Silver
Dimensions
.2ab confirmed: 6 9/16 × 4 3/16 × 3 3/8 in. (16.7 × 10.6 × 8.6 cm) .2c confirmed: 1 5/16 in. × 5 in. (3.3 × 12.7 cm)
Classification
Metalwork-Silver
Culture
British, London
Department
European Sculpture and Decorative Arts
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1920
Accession Number
20.15.2a–c
Art Historical Context
This elegant silver tea caddy spoon, crafted by London silversmith John Swift in1762–63, exemplifies the refined metalwork of Georgian Britain. Part of a set of three, it about 6½ by 4 by 3⅜ inches for the caddy (.2ab) and includes a slender 5-inch spoon (.2c). Adorning the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of since 1920 through the Rogers Fund, itails from the European Sculpture and Decorative Arts department. In the mid-18th century, tea emerged as a fashionable luxury among Britain's elite, imported at great expense from Asia. Tea caddies like this one—securely locked to safeguard prec...