Very Early Meissen Tea Caddy With Merchant Ship Scenes And Bud Knob, 1763-1774
Located in Vienna, AT
Rectangular porcelain box with rounded shoulders, small round, slightly domed lid with bud handle, colourful painted merchant scenes on the four sides and on the top of the lid, gold...
Porcelain
1970s Indian Bronze Box with Character on the Lid
Located in Marbella, ES
1970s Indian bronze box with character on the lid.
Bronze
English Victorian Silver Plate Tea Caddy, circa 1860
Located in New York, NY
English Victorian silver plate tea caddy, circa 1860 In shape of a beehive. Also can be used as a box.
Silver Plate
19th Century English Regency Mahogany Tea Caddy
Located in Los Angeles, CA
19th century English Regency Mahogany Tea Caddy with Flame Motif on four Bun Feet. Lock is signed by maker.
Mahogany
Tunbridge Ware Two Compartment Sarcophagus Tea Caddy c1860
Located in Tunbridge Wells, GB
Heading : Tunbridge ware sarcophagus tea caddy Date : c1860 Period : Victoria Origin : Tunbridge Wells, Kent Decoration : Central floral mosaic bordered by a geometric pattern within...
Wood
Oriental Papier-Mâché Decorative Box Painted on the Outside and Lacquered Inside
Located in Marbella, ES
Oriental Papier-Mâché Decorative Box Painted on the Outside and Lacquered Inside
Paper
English George III Mahogany Tea Caddy with Patera Inlay, ca. 1790
Located in Atlanta, GA
English George III Mahogany Tea Caddy with Patera Inlay, ca. 1790
Mahogany
Fine William and Mary 17th Century Olive Oyster Lace Box
Located in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
A fine late 17th-century olive oyster 'Lace Box' of small proportions, circa 1680-1690, England. The cross-grain moulded and holly banded top is finely veneered in hand-cut veneers ...
Olive
$630Sale Price|30% Off
Silver tea box with floral reliefs and central monogram
Located in Porto, PT
Description: Silver tea box with floral reliefs surrounding a monogram card in the center of the removable lid. Metal: Silver. Origin: Portuguese. Brand: javali II Title. Weight: 143...
Silver
$2,800Sale Price|30% Off
Silver tea box with plant engravings, pearly friezes and cut-out handle
Located in Porto, PT
Description: Silver tea box with engraved plant motifs, pearly friezes on the surround and a cut-out knob on the lid. Metal: Silver. Origin: Portuguese. Mark: open-winged eagle. Weig...
Silver
$526Sale Price|52% Off
Silver tea box with beaded edges and removable lid
Located in Porto, PT
Description: Silver tea box with crimped edges and removable lid. Metal: Silver. Origin: Portuguese. Brand: javali II Title. Weight: 134.42 grams. Dimensions: 5.5x7.3cm. Content: 833...
Silver
Set of 3 Antique Silver Gilt Tea Caddies 1903-1906 London, England Boxes
Located in London, GB
A set of three impressive solid Silver Tea Caddies decorated with ornated chased designs on the body and foot. Each has a chased push fit lid topped with a lovely berry and leaf fini...
Sterling Silver
19th Century Chinese Tea Caddy
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Hand painted with chinoiserie motif. Original inserts with etching.
Zinc
19th Century English William IV Rosewood Tea Poy
Located in Chelmsford, Essex
For sale is a good quality William IV rosewood tea poy, opening to a fitted interior retain its original glass bowls, above a turned stem over a platform base,...
Rosewood
19th Century Chinese Victorian Tea Caddy
Located in West Palm Beach, FL
Hand-crafted in China for the European market, this Asian-style English black lacquered octagonal hinged tea caddy features a decorative stenciled motif of pagodas and foliage in gil...
Pewter
Hand Carved Teak Vessel with Lid, Late 19th Century
Located in New York, NY
A small teak container or vessel, hand-carved off a single piece of teak wood. Indonesia, late 19th Century. Intricately decorated lid with carved conc...
Teak
Classical 19th Century Gilded Ormolu Embossed Tea Caddy
Located in Brighton, Sussex
A wonderful fine quality 19th century classical embossed tea caddy, having Bacchus like scenes of children playing, a goat and horse and much jollity. Elkington style.
Ormolu
18th Century George I Domed Topped Japanned Chinoiserie Falconry Box, circa 1710
Located in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
A rare and important Queen Anne-George I japanned chinoiserie domed topped box depicting scenes of falconry, circa 1710-1720. England Falconry is ...
Oak
1860s English Tea Box on Stand
Located in Los Angeles, CA
Late 19th-century English-imported tea box from China. Decorated with beautiful red and black hand-painted flora and fauna, and equipped with rectangular iron handles, the box is mou...
Wood
Irish Regency Tea Caddy
Located in Tampa, FL
A beautiful Irish 19th century rosewood tea caddy has its original glass and all of its interior. A sarcophagus design sitting on butt...
Mother-of-Pearl, Rosewood
Early Tunbridge Ware Tea Caddy with Two Compartments c1830
Located in Tunbridge Wells, GB
Heading : Early Tunbridge ware tea caddy with two compartments Date : c1830 Period : George IV / William IV Origin : Tunbridge Wells or Tonbridge, Kent Decoration : Central styli...
Wood
Antique Rare French Tea Caddy, Hand-Painted Briar Wood, Beaux Arts, 1830
Located in Alessandria, Piemonte
Exceptional casket with beautiful landscape miniature, briar-tuia wood - miniature fixe on silk, A very rare objet : for collectors. I keep it leaning on a chest of drrawers and ...
Wood
A harewood marquetry tea caddy with Royal Provenance
Located in Lymington, Hampshire
A harewood marquetry tea caddy with Royal Provenance, of oval form with a hinged lid opening to reveal two zinc lined compartments, decorated in fruitwood and boxwood marquetry with ...
Hardwood
Tunbridge Ware Two Compartment Tea Caddy Depicting Battle Abbey Gatehouse c1870
Located in Tunbridge Wells, GB
Heading : Tunbridge ware tea caddy depicting battle abbey gatehouse Date : c1870 Period : Victoria Origin : Tunbridge Wells, Kent Decoration : Central image depicts Battle Abbey Gate...
Wood
William IV Mahogany Tea Caddy in the Form of a Pedestal Sideboard
Located in Lymington, Hampshire
An unusual William IV mahogany tea caddy in the form of a pedestal sideboard with a hinged lid opening to reveal a central well for a mixing bowl (now missing) flanked by two removab...
Mahogany
Two Chinese Export Lacquered Tea Caddy for the English Market, Priced Per Caddy
Located in Buchanan, MI
A two Chinese export lacquered tea caddys for The English Market. With two fitted pewter canisters on the interior. Together with a Chinese export lacq...
Wood
19th Century Tea Caddy with Brass Ornaments
Located in Brea, CA
19th century lacquer tea caddy with brass ornaments. Has got an mahogany flamed color. Brass ornaments. Thick layer of lacquer over wood. Very good quality wood and is very beautiful...
Lacquer
A late George III mahogany tea caddy
Located in Lymington, Hampshire
A late George III mahogany tea caddy, of rectangular form the hinged top opening to reveal three compartments with sliding lids, with silver mounts including a foliate scroll handle,...
Mahogany
19th Century William IV Fruitwood Teapoy
Located in Dublin 8, IE
19th century William IV Fruitwood Teapoy with rectangular caddy top above lotus carved body on slender pod over finely carved base
Fruitwood
Two Chinese Export Lacquer Tea Caddy for the English Trade, Priced Per Tea Caddy
Located in Buchanan, MI
A Chinese Export lacquer tea caddy. Gilt lacquered tea caddy with two pewter canister inserts. Together with a larger Chinese export lacquer box with o...
Wood
$2,631Sale Price|52% Off
Silver tea box with reliefs and knob on the lid
Located in Porto, PT
Description: Silver tea box with engravings and pine cone-shaped handle on the lid. Metal: Silver. Origin: Portuguese. Mark: standing eagle. Weight: 671.05 grams - I Title. Dimension...
Silver
$2,221Sale Price|65% Off
Elliptical silver tea box with edge engravings and fruit-shaped knob
Located in Porto, PT
Description: Elliptical silver tea box with engravings on the casing and a fruit-shaped knob on a branch on the removable lid. Metal: Silver. Origin: Portuguese. Brand: Cabea de escr...
Silver
$598Sale Price|65% Off
Circular silver tea box with pearly frieze and monogram
Located in Porto, PT
Description: Circular silver tea box with pearly reliefs on the frieze and monogram card in the center. Metal: Silver. Origin: Portuguese. Brand: javali II Title. Weight: 247.62 gram...
Silver
$2,100Sale Price|30% Off
Silver tea box with engraved plant motifs and a flower-shaped knob on the lid
Located in Porto, PT
Description: Silver tea box with engraved plant motifs and flower-shaped handle on the lid. Metal: Silver. Origin: Portuguese. Mark: open-winged eagle. Weight: 542.75 grams. Dimensio...
Silver
Bugbear Coconut Tea Caddy on Silver Dolphin Base
Located in Dallas, TX
A Bugbear coconut tea caddy mounted on a silver dolphin base. Bugbear coconuts were carved by sailors on long voyages in the 18th and early 19th centur...
Silver
There are lots of uses for your vintage, new or antique tea caddies, but they can certainly serve their original intended purpose if needed.
When tea first gained popularity during the 1800s, and teatime became commonplace in homes all over England, it was an expensive commodity owing to excessive taxation. (This, of course, inevitably yielded a black market for tea leaves.) Tea drinkers hoarded their precious goods, which began to arrive in London ports from China during the 17th century, under lock and key. In luxury homes, tea leaves were stowed away in a decorative jar or canister called a tea caddy that was fitted with a lock, or, alternatively, the container was kept in a secured chest or storage cabinet.
Tea was thought to be not just a delicious drink but also to have medicinal benefits. The Chinese had been praising the healthy properties of tea, and wealthy Europeans were eager to discover its benefits for themselves during their ritual afternoon tea. The idea of “teatime” wasn’t a social event in upper-class British homes until the 1830s or 1840s. During Queen Victoria’s reign, small baked treats might be served with your beverage, and teakettles and coffeepots were part of tea services that could include teacups, saucers, a milk pot and other accessories.
When tea cultivation was relegated to British colonies such as India, and the British East India Company could no longer hold onto its trade monopoly with China, tea was no longer a ritual confined to the wealthy. Today, antique and vintage tea caddies are collector’s items all over the world.
Tea caddies weren’t unique to Europeans. The earliest pieces originated in China. Surviving hand-painted examples from China or elsewhere in Asia made of porcelain might feature enameled landscapes or other designs. At the Taft Museum of Art, there are striking enameled 18th-century-era tea caddies of copper that were given to the institution in 2014. Wooden tea caddies materialized over time and were seen as sturdier than their ceramic counterparts.
Today, there are all kinds of ways to use a vintage tea caddy if you’re passing on tea. They’re a welcome decorative flourish on the mantel in your living room, for example. A metal tea caddy, lined with a plastic bag, can be used to cultivate an herb garden on your kitchen windowsill. An old wooden tea caddy can help keep your paper clips or pushpins organized on your desk too. If you’re always on the go, a tea tin is good for packing earbuds, hand sanitizer, gum or whatever else that might get easily lost in a roomy crossbody messenger bag or other shoulder bag.
Teatime or not, find antique and vintage mid-century modern tea caddies, tortoiseshell caddies and more on 1stDibs.