Featured English Tortoiseshell tea caddy but seller said Chinese

Discussion in 'Antique Discussion' started by shamster, Jan 25, 2025.

  1. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    If you mean the leaf shapes either side of the cartouche, they’re ginkgo biloba leaves. The other flower is one of the campanula family.
     
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  2. shamster

    shamster Well-Known Member

    so it might just be random choice :p
     
  3. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    There were many Scottish in the military. And many Scottish sought a better future in Asian colonies, way back when.

    Quite a few Dutch-Indonesians have Scottish surnames (also Portuguese, German, French, etc which only goes to show Dutch-Indonesian is only a term;)).
     
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  4. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    My ancestors were Scottish, we got all over the place.

    Ginkgo symbolises endurance and resilience, very Scots. Campanula, bellflower is gratitude and everlasting love.
     
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  5. shamster

    shamster Well-Known Member

    May I ask how to best take care of them, other than rubbing with olive oil? I have noticed the veneer is much thinner than I thought, and I can see several cracks and even air bubbles under veneer. Should I be careful with temperature and humidity, for instance? Thanks a lot!
     
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  6. 808 raver

    808 raver Well-Known Member

    I had plenty of antiques that could be described as delicate, TBH it annoyed me they were only going to get worse and never looked at good as they could do. If I were you I would take the plunge of trying to flatten the lifting, if it's glued back to the wood it isn't going to come off when cleaning or handling.
     
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  7. shamster

    shamster Well-Known Member

    To all that have contributed thoughts on this tea caddy:

    I hereby not-so-sadly announce that an expert and dealer looked into my caddy and told me this is a reproduction made during late 20th century in China. This is actually fine to me as I paid very low compared to the genuine ones and seller never intentionally sell it as British. I was much more disappointed with my fake French glass trinket box a few months ago lol, which I paid less tho.

    yet still, the effort they put into faking is unbelievable! As an amateur collector I really can’t tell the difference! And this is still a beautiful piece of art, looks great with my other boxes.

    just a reminder to tea caddy collectors- beware these fabulous fakes, and never pay too much for them!
     
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  8. Ownedbybear

    Ownedbybear Well-Known Member

    If it’s a repro, it’s superbly done.
     
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  9. shamster

    shamster Well-Known Member

    Yes the details are insanely good, i.e. the pewter inlays, the veneered sides of lid. And I do think it’s been used and loved through those years
     
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  10. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    I would never have guessed.
    Excellent work, but a pity they used the shell of species that was already on the endangered list at the time. Sad to think that hawksbill turtles are also used for the fakes industry.
     
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  11. 808 raver

    808 raver Well-Known Member

    I'm so sorry for you, what a good fake, it would have fooled me, is it made of faux materials?
     
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  12. shamster

    shamster Well-Known Member

    They are only completely banned like twenty years ago in China. So far I have only seen Japanese vintages actively in trade right now (made in about same time)
     
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  13. shamster

    shamster Well-Known Member

    The materials are all real: tortoiseshell, MOP, bone… so not really a big loss. I now have a lesson in mind, and a still beautiful box lol
     
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  14. 808 raver

    808 raver Well-Known Member

    If all real materials then how does expert know it's fake?
     
  15. shamster

    shamster Well-Known Member

    he pointed out the problems with the hinges and lock, which as an amateur collector cannot tell more lol but that conclusion does match the few suspicious points I have in my mind
     
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  16. 808 raver

    808 raver Well-Known Member

    I did say caddies aren't my field but just the hinges and lock? these do get changed on old boxes. Without it being in front of me I couldn't say for sure but normally fakes don't go to the trouble of using real materials.
     
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  17. Any Jewelry

    Any Jewelry Well-Known Member

    Ditto.

    Tea caddies are not my area of expertise either, and of course we rarely get British tea caddies here.
     
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  18. shamster

    shamster Well-Known Member

    I think he already knows these fakes are everywhere in uk market, and he has a publication on them and how to identify. I do believe in him, cuz I just found a Chinese dealer saying he has twenty tea caddies ( not identical to mine tho) all being dead stocks from an old workshop. So they are definitely faked in great quantity and quality. Same tea caddy was seen at auctions, one of them stated as reproduction and still went to nearly 200 GPB
     
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  19. 808 raver

    808 raver Well-Known Member

    Another point, why would they fake such a hard to do shape? when more square straight lined boxes would be so much easier.
     
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  20. 808 raver

    808 raver Well-Known Member

    Ok, if they are so well known then maybe they were faked to fool the best, what a shame :( I have always been in fear of fakes, it's how a strong priced antique becomes almost worthless even if it's real.
     
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