Images(4)

Coffee can

Dateca. 1740

OriginAsia, China, Jingdezhen

MediumHard-paste porcelain

DimensionsOH: 2 5/8"; OW: 2 1/2"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase, Wesley and Elise H. Wright in memory of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Clay Hofheimer II and in honor of John C. Austin

Object number2010-98

DescriptionSmall straight-sided coffee can with simple handle, underglaze blue decoration depicting an Asian landscape beneath a crosshatched border, and above four thin lines of cobalt blue mimicking reeding, handle highlighted with horizontal lines of blue.Label TextCoffee cups are taller than they are wide and are designed to be used with saucers. Although mentioned several times in Williamsburg records, few such cups have been recovered archaeologically. The exceptions to this are coffee cans like this example. Straight-sided cups were not used with saucers. Several pieces have been recovered from sites in Williamsburg. They are all blue and white and bear various generic floral and landscape scenes. Several circa 1760s coffee cans, similar in design to this one, were recently excavated at the site of Richard Charlton’s coffeehouse on Duke of Gloucester Street.ProvenanceStockspring Antiques