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Tea Caddy thumbnail 2
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Not currently on display at the V&A

Tea Caddy

1804 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

The donor of this tea caddy told the V&A that her grandfather, Thomas Miniken, had made it in 1804. Miniken is an unusual name and he may have been the Thomas Minikin who worked for the furniture makers and retailers Gillows in Lancaster in 1798–1799. In 1827 a Thomas Miniken was the proprietor of a cabinet-maker's business in Soho, London – possibly the same man.

In 1804 this large box, with three compartments, would probably have been called a tea chest rather than a caddy. It is fitted with two small boxes or canisters, for different types of tea, on either side of a cut-glass bowl for mixing the teas. Thomas Miniken used a simple, standard form for the box, and its decoration is an uncomplicated geometric pattern, but his choice of such a wide range of tropical hardwoods for the marquetry enlivens the design considerably.


Object details

Category
Object type
Parts
This object consists of 4 parts.

  • Mixing Bowl
  • Tea Caddy
  • Tea Caddy
  • Tea Caddy
Materials and techniques
Mahogany, veneered in rosewood, satinwood, amboyna, kingwood and tulipwood, with a mixing bowl in cut glass
Brief description
Tea caddy of mahogany veneered with several woods, the interiors set with two caddies and a cut-glass mixing bowl
Physical description
A rectangular tea caddy, of mahogany veneered with rosewood, satinwood, amboyna, kingwood and tulipwood, the top, front and inside of the lid with a marquetry design of an oval. The caddy is set inside with two small caddies flanking a cut-glass mixing bowl.
Dimensions
  • Height: 16.8cm
  • Width: 33cm
  • Depth: 17.3cm
Checked on object in store
Style
Credit line
Given by Mrs M.M. Meek
Summary
The donor of this tea caddy told the V&A that her grandfather, Thomas Miniken, had made it in 1804. Miniken is an unusual name and he may have been the Thomas Minikin who worked for the furniture makers and retailers Gillows in Lancaster in 1798–1799. In 1827 a Thomas Miniken was the proprietor of a cabinet-maker's business in Soho, London – possibly the same man.

In 1804 this large box, with three compartments, would probably have been called a tea chest rather than a caddy. It is fitted with two small boxes or canisters, for different types of tea, on either side of a cut-glass bowl for mixing the teas. Thomas Miniken used a simple, standard form for the box, and its decoration is an uncomplicated geometric pattern, but his choice of such a wide range of tropical hardwoods for the marquetry enlivens the design considerably.
Collection
Accession number
W.30: 1 to 4-1929

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Record createdMay 13, 2004
Record URL
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