Description

Bow fronted Tea Caddy with thick mother of pearl diamond panels separated by equal bands of abalone. With ornate silver escutcheon and vacant initial plate on the top. The mother of pearl tea caddy has a canted top and flared plinth and stands on four tagua nut feet.

This impressive mother of pearl & abalone tea caddy features its original red velvet lined lid, two mother of pearl lidded compartments with turned bone handles and still has traces of their original tin foil lining.

This fabulous regency mother of pearl tea caddy comes complete with a fully working lock and tasselled key.

THE HISTORY OF ANTIQUE TEA CADDIES

In England in the 1700s, tea was an expensive commodity. To keep it safe, people would store it in a lockable Tea Chest or Tea Box, which eventually became known as a Tea Caddy (the word caddy is derived from the Malay “kati”, a unit of weight by which tea was sold). As tea was too expensive to risk leaving in the presence of servants, the caddy would be kept in the drawing room. Subsequently, the Tea Caddy became an important & fashionable accessory for the home.

All our items come with authentication certificate with image, care instructions and separate invoice for insurance purposes. On top of this our items come with 14 day no quibble money back guarantee and are all fully insured for when shipping.

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