Formed as a naturalistic package of tea bound with twisted silver wire, the body of wrought copper with glossy patina, the pull-off cover with a cast silver frog finial, stamped with maker’s mark and “Gorham & Co. Y36 P”. The Y is a special prefix for items made of copper.

In 1881 Gorham introduced a special Japanese-inspired art line of objects crafted of copper with silver appliqués. These are finished with all the care of the finest silverwares, and the copper has polished surfaces ranging in color from warm reds to tans and deep chocolate browns. An article from The Jewelers’ Circular and Horological Review of January 1882 mentions “tea caddies… barred with thin silver cords, a lizard on the lid”. This line was only made from 1881-1885 and the production was relatively small.

Charles Carpenter in Gorham Silver 1831-1981 discusses this line rather extensively. Of the glossy finish he states “The surfaces of Gorham’s copper pieces made in the 1880s can be described as lacquerlike glazes. However, they are chemically more like ceramic glazes than organic lacquers. It is not known what process Gorham used…”p. 114.