Drying Tea Leaves
1800
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
1800
paint
From the collection of Victoria and Albert Museum
Drying Tea Leaves is a 1800 paint by Unknown, a Romanticism work, held at Victoria and Albert Museum.
You see tea leaves laid out to dry in trays. This painting is part of a set showing the tea industry in China. It was made for Europeans who wanted to know how tea was grown and processed. The artist used simple scenes like this to teach people about China, and you can learn more about this style by looking at the technique of chiaroscuro.
The painting is a rectangular watercolour in blues and greens that depicts harvested tea leaves spread out on trays to dry. It is one of a set of twelve works illustrating the tea industry in China, where tea was the world’s sole supply before the mid-18th century. Produced for European audiences curious about tea cultivation and processing methods, the series reflects the period’s global tea trade. Acquired by the museum in 1894 from Mrs. L. MacKenzie, it is recorded in the Asia Department registers.
Read the full account in the museum source.
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