LATE 18TH CENTURY

This tea caddy is a fine example of a late Georgian casket applied with pierced and carved bone and mother-of-pearl Chinese-export panels. Another closely comparable tea caddy was in the Londonderry collection; described as 'Emily's Tea Caddy', it was possibly owned by either Emily, Lady Castlereagh or Frances Anne, 3rd Marchioness (NT 1220778). The Londonderry example retains its original rectangular shaped silver caddies, which are hall-marked 'Dublin 1795', suggesting it was similarly conceived. This tea caddy is now at Mount Stewart, County Down, formerly owned by the Stewart family (later Vane-Tempest-Stewart), holders of the title Marquess of Londonderry since 1816.

Another similar example, in ivory was sold from the Collection of Christopher Gibbs; Christie's, London 10 May 2006, lot 164 (£24,000, including premium). A related, slightly smaller, ivory box, of similar shape but with no interior caddies, was in the exhibition A Tale of Three Cities, Canton, Shanghai & Hong Kong, Three Centuries of Sino-British Trade in the Decorative Arts, the catalogue by David S. Howard, Sotheby's, London, January 1997, no. 252, p. 192.