The Ceylonese Tea-Plucker in Art
From Mystic Tea Room
On this page i am developing a gallery of images that feature a woman in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) plucking tea on vintage postcards and advertising. Stay tuned for more art, photos, postcards, advertisements, and socio-political theorizing about this trope in commercial tea leaf art.
 "Tea Plucking by Tamil Cooly Woman, Ceylon", postcard front. "Cooly" is an unusual spelling of "coolie," an archaic word derived from the mid 17th century Hindi and Telugu word kuli, meaning "day laborer," and probably associated with the Urdu word ḳuli, meaning "slave." Ceylon is now Sri Lanka. |
 The Salada Tea Plucker, Ceylon, postcard front, 1930s. |
 Tea Girl Safety Matches box cover, India, circa 1930s. |
 Tea Plucker, Ceylon (Sri Lanka): One woman, postcard front, 1920s. |
 Tea Plucker, Ceylon (Sri Lanka): Two women, postcard front, 1920s. |
 Tea Pluckers Ceylon (Sri Lanka): Three women, postcard front, 1920s. |
 The Tea Bush and Tea Pluckers at Work, postcard front, 1920s. |
 Ceylon (Sri Lanka) Tea Pluckers, chrome era, postcards front. |
 Tea Pluckers at Work; seventeen women plucking tea with a male overseer in Ceylon (Sri Lanka), circa 1910. postcard front. |
 Plucking Tea Up-Country Estate Ceylon: Multiple women plucking tea in Ceylon (Sri-Lanka} with male overseers, circa 1930s, postcard front |
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
