These six designs for tea chests (more commonly known today as tea caddies) appeared as plate no.159 in The Gentleman and Cabinet Maker's Director (1762 ed.). This plate was engraved by the engraver W. Foster whose name appears on the plate but not on this original design. In the plate description in the Director, Chippendale gives the instruction that ‘The Ornaments should be of Brass or Silver: The Plans are below with a scale’. Tea chests were popular objects during the 18^th century, inspired by the extensive importation of tea from Asia. Tea was a luxurious and popular commodity, demonstrated by the delicate designs in this plate, however as the 18^th century progressed tea became more widely available.

Thomas Chippendale was a fashionable designer and cabinet-maker in the eighteenth-century, providing furniture to such famous contemporary figures as David Garrick. His company produced high-quality furniture, including some key masterpieces, but Chippendale's outstanding skill was in design. His pattern-book The Gentleman and Cabinet-Maker's Director went through three editions in the 1750s and 60s and inspired trade catalogues and pattern-books from fellow designers. Usually produced by architects, a large, elegant pattern-book was an ambitious project for a craftsman at this time. The Director showed the full range of furniture available in the eighteenth century, and the range of styles that were fashionable. Chippendale created a trademark fusion of rococo style with Chinese and gothic elements, which was the basis of 'English' rococo. His style influenced furniture design in contemporary Europe and colonial America, and had a marked Victorian revival in England. The Director designs were the main source for Chippendale's high reputation until his furniture was first identified in 1906.