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A number of London artisans in the 1680s specialized in decorating silver forms with exotic Chinoiserie imagery. This monteith, a form used to chill or rinse wine glasses, has eight distinctively decorated panels. The accompanying tazza or footed tray features panels with similarly charismatic figures in flamboyant dress, but lacks the complex backgrounds that make the monteith so visually engaging.

Both pieces bear the engraved arms of the Royal African Company, which held a government-sanctioned monopoly on English slave trading in West Africa. Commissioned at the height of the company’s success, this monteith and tazza can be seen as powerful symbols of England’s expansion into Asia and Africa at the dawn of its global empire. They serve as a reminder of England’s prominent role in the slave trade.