

Body of tea caddy with four-lobed body, stands on four feet. It is made of pewter covered with a brown copper coating. The exterior body is engraved with inscriptions in archaic script on one side and on the opposite a poem praising tea, signed by the poet/calligrapher, 'Xue shu chu xie'; alternating between them are lotus spray or bamboo. A maker's mark is impressed in square seal on the base: 'Chaoyang' (name of the district), 'zhi he lao dian' (a shop's name); next to it is an impressed ovoid seal reads 'dian tong', which means embellished with copper.