My analysis will focus on the ca. 1790 silverplate hot water urn (above in profile and frontal view) that I purchased last fall. Unfortunately, the provenance of whom originally or subsequently owned the item in the historic period was lost even before the antique dealer I bought it from acquired it.
Nevertheless, as I mentioned in class I am planning to connect the ownership of the object through globalization in terms of trade networks in early Republic (ca. 1780-1820) between the advanced Western Civilization (though primarily of British origin if not British itself) with the East where tea was grown and shipped across the globe to thirsty folks. The water urn was just one of a host of items needed for the notion of a proper consumption of tea among elites.
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