Historical information

Tea was one of the first goods to be packaged in metal containers. Early import/export companies shipped it in metal-lined wooden crates. Pewter (widely used in England) was used one of the earliest metals used to fashion oriental style tea containers. Tin plated iron was made into tea canisters as early as 1790, often hand painted with places of the tea's origin.
This tin has been adapted for use as a money box.

Significance

In the mid-nineteenth century custom branded tins developed as a tasteful form of advertising. They were often cheap and decorative and found their way into households as gifts, often being kept as ornaments and storage boxes.They have survived well in many homes.

Physical description

A cylindrical metal Lipton's tin. The lid has a slot cut into it. The front panel has "LIPTON'S" above a red drawing of a tea factory and plantation with" TEA" below it. The print is white. There are panels framed in bamboo around the tin.

Inscriptions & markings

"Lipton tea, coffee and cocoa planter: Tea merchant by special appointment to his majesty King George V"