Description

Regency Circa 1820

From our Tea Caddy collection, we are delighted to introduce to the market this exquisite Mother of Pearl Hexagonal Tea Caddy. The Tea Caddy of beautiful hexagonal panel form with a pagoda style lid and plinth skirt raised upon six solid mother of pearl bun feet. The exterior of the Tea Caddy is veneered in a beautiful iridescent Mother of pearl with intricate panels of inlaid mother of pearl and abalone decoration formed as blooming flowers and foliage to each individual panel on the front and sides. When opened the Tea Caddy reveals two mother of pearl lidded compartments with carved mother of pearl floral handles finished with ivory facings and a red velvet inner lid. The Tea Caddy contains traces of the original silver foil lining to the compartments and dates to the first half of the 19th century during the short lived Regency era (1811-1820) and the reign of Prince George circa 1820.

The Jewellery Box comes complete with working lock and tasselled key.

Mother of Pearl is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some molluscs as an inner shell layer. It is the same material that natural pearls are made from and is desirable due to its strong and resilient makeup along with its beautiful iridescent shimmer.

Abalone is a name for a group of small to very large marine gastropod molluscs in the family Haliotidae. The shell is convex, rounded to oval in shape, and may be highly arched or very flattened. The highly iridescent inner nacre (mother of pearl) layer of the shell is traditionally used as a decorative item, in various applications such as jewellery, furniture and musical instruments.

Vegan ivory or Tagua nut is a product made from the very hard centre of the seeds of certain palm trees. Vegan ivory is named for its resemblance to animal ivory. Species in the genus Phytelephas (elephant plant), native to South America, are the most important sources of vegetable ivory along with the Caroline ivory-nut palm and Vanuatu, and the real fan palm. A tagua palm can take up to 15 years to mature. But once it gets to this stage it can go on producing vegetable ivory for up to 100 years. In any given year a tagua palm can produce up to 20 pounds of vegan ivory making it an exceptionally sustainable source.

Georgian, a period in British history dating from 1714-1837, the Georgian era after the Hanoverian kings George I, George II, George III and George IV.

Regency is an era of British history between 1811 and 1820. The Regency era was initiated by King George III first suffered a debilitating illness in the late 1780s. He relapsed into his mental illness in 1810 and by the Regency Act in 1811 his eldest son George, Prince of Wales, was appointed prince regent to discharge royal functions. When George III died in 1820, the Prince Regent succeeded him as George IV.

If you are purchasing Tortoiseshell or Ivory pieces and are outside the E.U. you must have a CITES certificate in order to import the item into your country. We can obtain these on your behalf at a cost of £50 and these can take up to 14 working days to arrive at our office. Due to the strict exporting rules of these pieces, they may also come with further shipping costs. Please ensure you contact us prior to purchase for a quote.

With every purchase from Mark Goodger Antiques, you will receive our latest catalogue, a Certificate of Authenticity, detailed care instructions for your chosen piece and an independent invoice (for insurance purposes) will be enclosed. As well as being protected by a no-hassle, money-back policy, your piece will be entirely insured during the shipping process to ensure the safety of your item.

Additional information