Two Antique English Green and Gilt Tole Tea Canisters

England, mid-19th century, numbers 3 and 6 likely from a set of (6) canisters, each hand-painted with different colorful exotic bird, unmarked.

Each approximately 17 1/4 x 9 1/2 in.

From the Historic Collection of Limestone University, Gaffney, South Carolina
Limestone College, now Limestone University, was founded in 1845 in Gaffney, South Carolina, by English-born Baptist minister Dr. Thomas Curtis and his son William. Originally established as the Limestone Springs Female High School, it was among the first women’s colleges in the nation and the very first in the state. The institution found its early roots in a former resort hotel near healing springs, later struggling due to the Civil War and Reconstruction. It revived in 1881 as the Cooper‑Limestone Institute, thanks to benefaction from industrialist Peter Cooper, and adopted the name Limestone College.

Both with scattered small areas of paint and gilt chipping and cracking; number 3 canister with large area of paint loss to posterior.