This example is produced by the kindness of Messrs. Carrington & Co. It belongs to the stormy years of George II and the war of the Austrian Succession. Frederick of Prussia had seized the rich province of Silesia, as one of the claimants for the dominions of Maria Theresa of Austria. Carteret came into power on the fall of Walpole. “What is it to me,” he said, “who is judge or who is bishop? It is my business to make kings and emperors, and to maintain the balance of Europe.” In 1743, at the Battle of Dettingen, was the last occasion an English sovereign was in the field, until His Majesty George V broke that precedent by visiting the British trenches in Flanders. The lower group on page 255 belongs to the late George III period. The coffee-pot and teapot on the left belong to the same set. The flat, spreading knob to the lid is a form of ornament which succeeded the long-established baluster form and continued with variations to modern days, and is found in cheap Britannia metal teapots for common use in early nineteenth-century days. The others on the right exhibit novel features. The spreading mouth of the pot surmounted by an overhanging lid is a form which was readily seized by the potter. Some of the early Staffordshire teapots, notably those by Wedgwood, are in this style, as it was an easy shape for the potter to work. The spout, apart from its position low down on the body, is especially a potter’s form. The coffee-pot at the top, in urn form, with its long foot to give it the requisite height, is uncommon and did not long survive. The teapot beneath it has a stand, another innovation adopted by the potter. [Illustration: EARLY FORMS OF TEA-CADDY: SQUARE AND ROUND. GEORGE I. 1718 (EXETER). GEORGE II. 1730 (LONDON).] [Illustration: LATE EIGHTEENTH-CENTURY TYPES: OVAL IN FORM. GEORGE III. 1775 (LONDON). GEORGE III. 1784 (LONDON). Showing evolution in form culminating in the Sheraton tea-caddy. (_By courtesy of Messrs. Elkington & Co._)] The Tea-caddy The early forms of tea-caddy were square or round. It may be imagined that so precious a beverage had to be stored carefully. Hence the receptacles for tea were somewhat luxurious in character. We illustrate a square type representative of the early days of the eighteenth century (illustrated p. 259). This example was made at Exeter. The South Sea Bubble was just about to be blown at the formation of the South Sea Company to take over the national debt. Such a specimen is of rarity and is worth about £40 or £50. The round example adjacent is of London make with the hall-marks for 1730, in the opening years of George II, straight from the days when Sir Robert Walpole governed England.