Object of the Day, Museum Edition: An Antique Tea Caddy, 1740-1770

Tea Chest
French, 1740-1770
The Victoria & Albert Museum

One year and three days ago, in the early days of Stalking the Belle Époque, I posted an article about an antique tea caddy in my own collection.
Tea caddies or tea chests were important items in an Eighteenth or Nineteenth Century home. Tea was a precious commodity. It was therefore kept securely in elegant locking cases so that servants would not be tempted to steal the valuable leaves. Very often, these chests often contained several compartments in which different kinds of tea or, even, sugar were kept safe.

This tea caddy of japanned wood is lined with pale pink silk and contains multiple compartments. Made in France between 1740-1770, it shows the ebonized color-scheme which was popular during the period.

Caddies were often adorned with Chinese motifs, demonstrating the source of the tea. Since actual Asian lacquer was prohibitively expensive for most households, the look was replicated by European artisans who painted the chests and applied translucent varnishes to imitate proper lacquer. In England, this process was known as ‘japanning’.

This caddy is by Martin Brothers of Paris. According to the V&A, “In 1730 the Martin brothers of Paris were granted a monopoly on their particular recipe for such varnishes and the term ‘vernis Martin’ or ‘Martin’s varnish’ is now the common term in France for any decoration of this type, whether or not made to their recipes.”