Chinese Republic Tea Caddy

carolfsvt · Feb 04, 2015, 03:22:23

I have a tea caddy that I believe is Chinese Republic(1912-1949). The mark led me to this which I found on the website watersilkdragon:

"Hua Cha Gong Si Chu Pin_14_17, The Hua Cha and Ji Hua Cha company made tea caddies. Many tea caddies of the Republic period have one of these marks and often also have a red ?CHINA? mark. Others are either unmarked or have just the ?CHINA? mark. ?Hua? means China, ?Cha? means tea, ?Hua Cha? here is a name of a tea producing company in Shang Hai, but the porcelain is produced for it by a Jingdezhen porcelain company"

Do you think I have identified this tea caddy correctly? Can the date be narrowed down?

carolfsvt · Feb 04, 2015, 03:30:07

I forgot to post the link where I found the mark:

watersilkdragon.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/chinese-republic-1912-1949-and-other-marks-overview/

They are in alphabetical order.

Stan · Feb 04, 2015, 03:49:12

I think you are right about the age, Republic period, probably the later side in my opinion.

carolfsvt · Feb 04, 2015, 04:09:18

Thank you. I'm trying very hard to learn to identify my items. Nice to know I got one correct!

peterp · Feb 04, 2015, 07:40:32

The porcelain body is old, but some parts may have been added or re-painted later, like the blue decoration on the lid.

Stan · Feb 04, 2015, 10:02:01

I agree Peter, I have a tea caddy that is identical in shape and mine is late Qing to early republic but the decoration on this one is later as you said.

carolfsvt · Feb 04, 2015, 10:34:46

Thank you. Let me make sure I am understanding correctly. Was the tea caddy a blank and the decoration/design was added at a later time when the manufacturer needed more tea caddies to sell? Is this a hand painted item?

peterp · Feb 04, 2015, 11:11:32

Difficult to tell, but it could be that part of the floral decoration (green) is original, perhaps even the boy, the rest may have been added later or was the over-painting of an abraded or simple original decoration. The thick enamels were probably added at a later time.
This was done with simple or damaged (abraded) on-glaze decorations to increase the perceived value. And yes, this is hand-painted.

Stan · Feb 04, 2015, 11:46:42

I need to apologize, looking closer at mine makes me think that they are republic period, I have had mine for over 20 years and have seen the same identical tea caddy with the identical decoration, I think the faces on mine are republic period, they are drawn in black, not colored is that correct Peter? republic?

Stan · Feb 04, 2015, 11:49:16

Carolfsvt, mine is missing the original lid and has a wood lid, it is nice that you still have the lid.

Stan · Feb 04, 2015, 11:59:26

The bottom on mine is a little different.

peterp · Feb 04, 2015, 12:21:51

Yes, it is republic, cannot read the mark, the picture is too small. However, I think it is irrelevant. It probably will be Tongzhi or a private mark, judging by the look of it, but the item still is republic.
Most tea caddies seem to have lost the lid, or they are damaged from dropping.

carolfsvt · Feb 04, 2015, 21:35:18

Here are a few more pictures hopefully more detail showing. The tea caddy does have a few rough spots on it. Another question - do the tops fit tightly on or are they loose and just set on top of the opening?

I love it and it's a good learning piece for me. Besides it came from a thrift store for about $3, so I can't lose no matter what it is, even just a decorative piece :-)

peterp · Feb 04, 2015, 21:50:02

Antique Chinese lids almost never fit tightly.