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Tea canister
Skeet, M. - Enlarge image
Tea canister
- Place of origin:
Long Melford, United Kingdom (probably, decorated)
- Date:
1800-1830 (made)
- Artist/Maker:
Skeet, M. (paperwork and embroidery, maker)
- Materials and Techniques:
Rolled paperwork, embroidery and wood
- Credit Line:
Given by Queen Mary
- Museum number:
W.31:1, 2-1927
- Gallery location:
British Galleries, room 120, case 15
Object Type
Tea caddies were small boxes, sometimes with two or three inner compartments, used to store loose tea leaves. They were usually kept locked to protect the valuable contents. They were often highly decorative because they were placed on the table as tea was served, where they would be seen by family and guests. Being small and light, they were ideal for decoration at home. The decoration on this caddy would have taken hours of painstaking work.
Places & People
This caddy is unusual in that it is signed in embroidery and also has the name of a school. This suggests that it was decorated by a child at the school, which was probably in Long Melford, Suffolk. There was a school in the parish church at Long Melford from about 1690, and there were also several private schools in the village. In 1830 Samuel Skeet was landlord of The Greyhound Inn at the nearby village of Lavenham, so 'M. Skeet' could have been one of this family.
Materials & Making
Tea caddies were ideal for decorating with rolled paperwork, but other small boxes, cabinets and screens were also used. The method was called 'filigree' at the time. The intricate patterns could be copied from published sheets, available from shops such as 'The Temple of Fancy' at 34 Rathbone Place, London. The shop also sold plain objects for decorating.
