Hand Painted Ceramic Storage Canister with Lid, 23cm

Storage that does not look like storage

Most airtight containers are designed to disappear into a cupboard. This one is the opposite proposition. A painted bird on a soft green ground, a domed lid rising to a gilded finial, and enough presence that it earns a place on an open shelf rather than behind a door. What it holds is your business. That it looks like something inherited is the point.

Painted, not printed

The bird and the trailing branch are applied by hand, so the placement and the brushwork differ from one canister to the next. Look closely and you can see where the painter's hand moved, the dry drag of the brush through the orange of the breast and the slight unevenness of every line. It is the difference between a pattern that repeats every fourth item on a shelf and one that does not repeat at all.

Taller than you expect

At 23cm it stands a good deal higher than a normal kitchen canister, on a base only 10cm across, and roughly ten of those centimetres are lid. That narrow, top heavy proportion is what makes it read as an urn or an apothecary jar rather than a storage tin, and it is why it holds its own on a shelf next to plain stoneware instead of disappearing among it.

Why you will love it

• Hand painted decoration - no two are laid down quite the same way.
• Sealed lid - keeps tea, coffee and sugar from going stale or damp.
• Weighted ceramic body - it sits solidly rather than skittering about.
• Antiqued gilding - worn warm gold at the foot, shoulder and finial, the finish that makes it read as found rather than bought.
• Opaque - unlike glass, it hides a half empty bag of sugar.
• Not only for the kitchen - equally good on a dresser holding anything at all.

Specifications

• Height: 23cm including the lid and finial
• Diameter: 10cm at the body and at the mouth
• Lid: domed, 10cm tall to the top of the finial
• Material: glazed ceramic with a hand painted design
• Finish: soft green ground with a painted bird motif and antiqued gilding
• Use: tea, coffee, sugar and dry goods

Care

Wipe the outside with a damp cloth rather than submerging it, and hand wash the inside when it needs it. Keep the painted surface away from abrasives and out of the dishwasher, since hand applied decoration sits on the glaze rather than under it and a hot detergent cycle will dull it over time. Make sure the inside is completely dry before refilling.