The Ceylonese Tea-Plucker in Art

From Mystic Tea Room

"Tea Plucking by Tamil Cooly Woman, Ceylon", postcard front. "Cooly" is an unusual spelling of "coolie," an archaic meaning a colonized, underpaid, exploited Asian worker. Ceylon is now Sri Lanka.

The Salada Tea Plucker, Ceylon, postcard front, 1930s.

Tea Girl Safety Matches box cover, India, circa 1930s.

On this page i am developing a gallery of images that feature a woman in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) plucking tea. Stay tuned for more art, photos, and socio-political theorizing about this trope in commercial tea leaf art.

catherine yronwode
curator, historian, and docent
The Mystic Tea Room

See Also

• Tea Leaf Symbols in Art
• Tea Leaf Reading in Art
• Advertisements for Tea Leaf Reading Services
• Harry Roseland's Fortune Teller Art
• Tea Company Booklet Art
• The Ceylonese Tea-Plucker in Art