Tea Caddies

There are many legends surrounding the origins of tea. The Chinese legend is that Emperor Shen Nung was boiling his drinking water when some leaves from a nearby tea shrub landed in the cauldron. He tasted the new drink and liked it and tea was born. The Indian legend is that Prince Bodhidharma who had converted to Buddhism went to China in the sixth century. He took to chewing leaves from the tea shrub to stay alert for prayer and meditation and started the craze for tea.

What is know as fact, is that tea was already known as a beverage during the time of Confucius (551-479BC), increasing in popularity during the Han Dynasty (206BC- 220AD). During the Tang Dynasty (618-906 AD) tea became the national drink of China.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to arrive in China by sea in 1516. The Chinese allowed them to settle only at Macao. The Portuguese made much of this trade access and carried silk and other products, including tea, back to Lisbon. Competition arrived with the ships of the Dutch East India Company who also reached the coast of Japan in 1609. By 1610, the Dutch were transporting tea from Japan and China via Java back to Europe. Tea became fashionable among the wealthy Dutch merchants but was too expense for the rest of the population.

However, the biggest impact that the introduction of tea had on a European country was in England. Until 1657 teas found in England came from Dutch sources. It was not until 1669 that the English East India Company imported its first shipment to England. Charles II re-charted the English East India Company giving it exclusive rights to trade with the Far East.

The passion for tea drinking led to the new products for storing and serving tea and one of these products was the tea caddy. Tea caddies came in all materials, shapes and sizes. Larger tea caddies are often called tea chests and locks were added to these to protect the tea from theft from servants or visitors. Tea caddies are an interesting area for collecting, though there are copies of earlier styles on the market. Many auctions and stores will have tea caddies for sale. Worth noting when purchasing is the quality of the item and if a tea chest retains its original interior.

Jar and Lid, Jingdezhen, China ca.1680 Porcelain painted in underglaze blue

Tea Caddy Lead Glazed Earthenware, English, 1798

Victoria and Albert Museum

Tea Chest, Abraham Roentgen (German 1711-1793) Made: 1750-55

Oak, cedar, veneered with rosewood; brass, iron, and steel

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Tea caddy, Jennens and Bettridge (makers) 1851 Painted papier- mâché

Victoria and Albert Museum

Snuff Boxes

A snuff box is a small decorated box used for carrying powdered, scented tobacco known as snuff). Snuff was sniffed or inhaled and the taking of snuff became fashionable in 17th-century England and the habit quickly spread to other countries around the globe. Snuff boxes varied in sizes, from those small enough to fit in a waistcoat, to larger table boxes. The snuff box became an object for decoration by goldsmiths, enamelers and painters of miniatures. Typically the lid received the most decorative attention and nature designs were common decorative touches. The very wealthy added jewels or coats of arms to their boxes. Snuff boxes were popular as gifts for special occasions and the materials used for snuffboxes included silver, gold, brass, wood, porcelain, horn, and tortoise shell. An example of a special designed snuff box for the table is the mull, or silver mounted rams head/horn. Long after snuff taking became unpopular, snuff boxes continued to be made for gifting. Very collectible, all sizes of these boxes appear frequently at auctions and in antique stores, providing a broad market for collectors, with boxes to suit all price points.

George IV Silver-Gilt Snuff Box and William IV Silver Snuff Box. (1829 and 1830)

Christies New York 20 May 2015 Russian Works of Art, Important Silver and Objects of Vertu, Sale 3730 Lot 302

Famile Rose Porcelain Suff Box, Qianlong Period (1735-96)

Showing an image of a Dutch couple on the lid underside

Christies New York 18 January 2017 Chinese Export Art Sale 12597 Lot 371

Snuff Box (England date unknown) Wood with brass piqué.

Shoes are associated with love and marriage and shoe or boot forms were given as symbols of good luck

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, United Kingdom

Snuff Mull (Scotland) Pewter and Horn (1840s)

Victoria and Albert Museum, London, England