JAPANESE HISTORICAL PORCELAIN TEA CADDY, with interior and outer porcelain covers, square form, and tapered opening; two panels with polychrome floral and bird designs; two panels with images of the merchant buildings of the E.T. Mason & Co. in Yokohama and Kobe; bright red and polychrome floral design on shoulder and cover; artist signed on one side "K.Y." or "K.V." Late 19th/early 20th century. 6 1/8" H.
Restoration to outer cover, otherwise undamaged.
Provenance: From the estate of Richard and Madeline Osborne Merrill, Saugus, Massachusetts.
Catalogue Note: Richard Merrill spent a great deal of time researching the firm of E.T. Mason & Co., including correspondence with the Peabody Essex Museum, the Tea Council of the U.S.A., Inc., and individuals in both America and Japan. His research accompanies the tea caddy and concludes with E.T. Mason & Co. being a New York firm having Yokohama and Kobe, Japan merchant buildings as well their New York base.

Restoration to outer cover, otherwise undamaged.