This pot is part of a set formed of two tea caddies and a sugar bowl. Tea drinking was a fashionable activity throughout the eighteenth century. Brought to the tea table in the drawing room, the lady of the house would have handled objects like these herself when serving friends. This set's rococo ornament, veering from the naturalistic to the fantastical, demonstrates how changing tastes took centre stage at the table in both senses of the word.

Sir Arthur Gilbert and his wife Rosalinde formed one of the world's great decorative art collections, including silver, mosaics, enamelled portrait miniatures and gold boxes. Arthur Gilbert donated his extraordinary collection to Britain in 1996.