Material culture mystery (meaning ignorance)
Friday, 1 December 2023
The other week, I read a novel set in 19th century London, by an author living at that time, in which a character asked another character if he wanted Indian, Chinese, or Sri Lankan tea. I’m guessing these elephant pots, if used among those characters, would indicate they contained Indian tea. I don’t know what the other shapes would be…dragons for Chinese? But what for Sri Lanka?