Posted by Joanne Picard on January 25, 2024, 5:45 pm
I recently acquired a small (3 inches high) straight-sided object in the chintz pattern by Ridgways (see photos). The lip at the top seems to indicate that there would have been a lid of some kind, so I don't think it is a vase. According to the notes in the database, the pattern was used primarily for children's dinner ware and tea ware, which fits the small size of the piece, but doesn't help identify its purpose, and I haven't found anything like it in any of the reference books I own. Any ideas about what it would have been used for? Thanks, Joanne
Miniature tea cannisters, although very difficult to find now, were made in miniature in the 18th century. I believe you have a miniature tea or kitchen cannister made by Ridgways, c 1882, in the “Chintz” pattern. You can see other cannisters for children, with lids as originally intended, in Lorraine Punchard’s, ‘200 Years of Playtime Pottery & Porcelain,’ at the bottom of page 204.
Thank you so much for this information. I don't have the book you referenced, so I wonder if you could take a photo of the other similar cannisters included there and upload it? I'm very curious to see others, and it would be good additional documentation for the database entry on this pattern. Thanks,
Attached are some photos of Children’s Miniature Tea Caddy or Cannister examples (I am not sure of the order they will appear in):
Photo #1 Lorraine Punchard’s, ‘200 Years of Playtime Pottery & Porcelain,’ p 204, bottom. Example of 20th Century Children’s Miniature Cannister Set, Mary Hadley.
Photo #2 Lorraine Punchard’s, ‘200 Years of Playtime Pottery & Porcelain,’ p 18, top. Example of 18th Century Children’s Miniature Cannister (top row #1 on the left), c 1770, Josiah Wedgwood, Black Basalt.
Photo #3 Lorraine Punchard’s, ‘Playtime Pottery & Porcelain From the United Kingdom & the United States,’ p 17, top-right. Example of 18th Century Children’s Miniature Cannister (top row, middle), c 1760, Thomas Whieldon, ‘Tortoiseshell’ glaze finish.
Photo #4 Lorraine Punchard’s, ‘Playtime Pottery & Porcelain From the United Kingdom & the United States, p 18, top. Example of 18th Century Children’s Miniature Cannister – No Lid (bottom row, #2 from the left, 3.25” H), c 1760, Josiah Wedgwood, Creamware, hand painted.
Photo #5 Doris Lechler, ‘English Toy China,’ pp 1, 113. Example of 18th Century Children’s Miniature Cannister (top row, #3 from the right, 3.5” H), c 1750, Leeds Creamware with Cobalt Blue Feathered Edge.
Thank you so much for the additional info and photos. My piece doesn't have as big a shoulder as the canisters shown here, but it could have had a similar kind of lid, or maybe a stopper with cork. And it was made a good deal later than most of these, so the shape may have evolved. Tea canister certainly makes sense, given that the pattern was used mostly for children's wares. I'll pass this info along for the database. Thanks again, Joanne