Hallmarks -- England; Plate -- Collectors and collecting; Sheffield plate
The earliest tea caddies came from China and were decorated in
blue and white. Worcester produced fine examples, some in powder
blue. Whieldon made and dated others "Green Tea, 1765." Wedgwood had
his square canisters in black basalt ware. Liverpool printed dainty
transfer pictures on these dainty caskets. They are found enamelled by
Battersea in rich colours. They are found in pewter and they are found
in glass. Bristol produced white opaque bottles inscribed "Hyson" and
"Bohea," and there are square cut-glass caddies with silver mounts and
handles, and in Holland the old Delft examples came with the early days
of tea drinking. The cabinet-makers, Chippendale and Hepplewhite and
Sheraton, show tea caddies in their Design Books and they were splendid
pieces of work in mahogany and satinwood with ivory and coloured
marquetry. Many of the little caddy spoons of such pleasing variety
of shape were made to go with these tea caddies, and were produced at
Sheffield as well as in solid silver.
=Tea and Coffee Sets.=--It was not until about 1820 to 1825 that
tea sets were produced with teapot, cream jug, and sugar basin as
well as the coffee pot. The set illustrated (p. 197), about 1810 in
date, shows this omission. Later in 1820, as shown in the illustration
below, the coffee pot became part of the set; and in the illustration
of the sets it is clearly seen that the styles of the coffee pots are
in keeping with the rest of the set and have not been matched or added
later. The four-piece sets became a common feature after the first
quarter of the nineteenth century, and some of these are of pleasing
character. Two sets, 1825 and 1830 in date, are illustrated (p. 199).
With these were accompanying trays of solid manufacture and about
this date they were very heavy and richly ornamented by die work with
_appliqué_ shell patterns and foliage at the rims. They only emulated
the very solid silver of the late Georgian era when silver was sold
by weight by the dealers and so much added for "fashion," that is,
fashioning it. This latter item in massive pieces was a comparatively
insignificant sum compared with the total cost, which provoked the
eighteenth century epigram:
When Loveless married Lady Jenny,
Whose beauty was the ready penny;
"I chose her," said he, "like old plate,
Not for the fashion but the weight."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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