An oak tea caddy antique with two lidded compartments for green and black tea. The two compartments lift out to reveal a blue felt lined interior. Beautiful original grain and patina.

In England in the 18th and early 19th centuries tea was seen as an exotic commodity and was certainly expensive, it would have been kept in a locked caddy under the control of the lady of the house, protected from casual theft by the servants and dispensed sparingly and with great ritual, this caddy is an excellent example. As the caddy was a social status symbol under the close scrutiny of visitors to the house, caddies such as these were made to the very highest standards of the cabinet makers art. Eventually new sources of tea became available from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and India and so the containers became larger as the product reduced in price.

The measurements are 24 x 15 x 15cm.

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