Tea set with box

This tea service includes a teapot, creamer, and sugar bowl. The vessels are decorated with chinar leaves against a dense coriander pattern background - a popular Kashmiri design - and are covered to keep out insects, a necessity during the hot Indian summer. The teapot features a rosewood handle and finial to insulate against the heat of the contents. The set was presented to P. L Harrison by H. S Khorama, and features a medallion on the teapot with the Johnston family crest (a rampant lion) and motto: cave paratus (Latin: prepare, be cautious). Kashmiri silversmiths produced tea services in a wide range of shapes, many of them non-European, such as those modeled after boat-shaped begging bowls carried by holy men, known as kashkul. The unusual lobed form of these vessels is no exception and shows the imagination and creativity Kashmiri silversmiths were known for. Afternoon tea was popular with the British in India. It was taken between lunch and dinner, providing a perfect opportunity for light refreshment and conversation. Silver tea services were fashionable among the British upper class and were produced by silversmiths in the major urban centres of India, almost always embellished with distinct local patterns.

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