Painted satinwood with painted paper medallions; English, 1780-1800

from tea caddy, English, 1780-1800

from tea caddy, English, 1780-1800

Oval box of pine veneered with satinwood, with painted borders and applied painted medallions; the exterior decorated with a band of leaves and berries between two inlaid borders of stringing near the bottom of the box, with a similar strip around the side of the lid as well as on top of the lid at the edge; three oval, painted, paper medallions depicting women in grecian-style dress in a pastoral setting are applied centrally and space about 1 inch from each other on the front of the box; each medallion is set within a painted frame comprising a thin black border with painted jewels or pearls around the edge; the medallion on the left shows a woman seated with a dog, the woman rests her head in her left hand and she gazes out to sea; the central medallion depicts a woman seated with her arms outspread, two winged cherubs either side of her (one of them has a posy) and a verdant landscape in the background; the medallion on the right depicts a woman kneeling before a bust on a plinth and pointing to a ship out at sea; the keyhole set in a border of ivory at the front of the box in the middle, a silver lock-plate immediately above this on the top edge of the box front; on top of the lid in the middle is a small silver handle screwed in from the top and mounted onto a small circular plate with a ring of cut steel studs around its edge; the lid hinged with a single hinge at the back; the interior (box and lid) lined with silver foil and divided vertically into two compartments by a single partition in the middle, each compartment has a loose lid with small round handle; a piece of green baize applied to the underside of the base.

Given by Thomas Sutton, Esq., in memory of his wife

Tea caddies are small boxes used to store loose tea leaves. Originally called 'canisters', the term changed to caddy after about 1800 and this word is thought to derive from the Malay word 'kati' which means a measure of weight equivalent to about half a kilogram. Tea-drinking was introduced into Britain in the late seventeenth century and by the end of the eighteenth century it was widespread.

Drinking tea was a social activity and domestic tea caddies were often elaborately decorated. They were available in many different shapes, sizes and colours and were often embellished with painted scenes and motifs, or veneers and inlays in all manner of materials such as ivory, mother-of-pearl or tropical hardwood. This example has been veneered with satinwood, inlaid with ebony stringing and then painted. Although the foliate bands around the base and lid have been painted straight onto the wood, each of the medallions has been painted on paper and then stuck onto the front of the caddy with glue. The Grecian-style robes and pastoral settings depicted in the medallions are typical of the fashion for classical antiquity which was at its height at the end of the eighteenth century. Similar motifs can also be found on ceramics and in paintings of the same period.

W.85:1-1919