Description:
Mahogany tea chest or tea caddy with a brass carrying handle in the center of the flat lid; brass lock and two hinges; three lidded tin containers and a velvet-lined interior lid in the box; and supported on four plain bracket feet The very high rate at which tea was taxed added greatly to the expense of tea in the 18th century. Locked wooden storage boxes fitted with airtight containers became popular not only to protect tea’s freshness and flavor but also to guard against theft. The term “caddy” derives from the Malay word kati—a unit of measurement by which tea was weighed and traded. Typical of the form, this example is fitted with three tinned sheet iron containers: a center container to store lump sugar cut from a sugar cone and two side compartments, one for “Bohea,” or black tea, the other for “Hyson,” or green tea. In several English paintings of tea drinking, the tea caddy sits on the floor near the hostess.
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1089 |
