Featured Tea Caddy

Got this tea caddy yesterday:


Key plate is missing, and for some reason the lock isn't working

Veneer on the lid seems to have been repaired at some point in time

Dutch and 1820s like this one?
https://www.vangilsantiek.nl/a-60460590/kistjes-kastjes/antiek-hollands-theekistje/#description

Or just pretending to be old?

 

Yes. Nice that it still has the inside lids.

No.

Maybe they added just any old key because the original key was missing, as they often are.

 

Indeed (The one from the link is missing the lids)

 

Aj, why do you think Dutch? It looks a typical Georgian British one to me.

 

I'm wondering this, too...

 

We had similar ones, and the bun feet are a feature often seen here (but not exclusively here). And since this was found in the Netherlands....

In general, only some styles are specific to a region or country, most styles are generic to a greater area, so several regions or countries, sometimes with different details.
You are used to seeing these tea caddies in the UK by UK makers, we are used to seeing them here by Dutch makers.

The woods we used were mostly from the former Dutch Malabar coast, Indonesia and Surinam. This mahogany would have come from Surinam or from plantations in Indonesia.

 

Btw, the one in the link is also Dutch. The seller is a reputable Dutch antiques shop. They know their Dutch antiques.

 

Our mahogany was generally Caribbean. We did bun feet, no feet and little ivory feet, and even sometimes ormolu.

These are a couple I've had.

 

Mine (with replacement pressed glass insert), which I assumed was English:

 

I would have said English as well, if you type in google images "Dutch wooden tea caddy" Vs "English wooden tea caddy" this shape and style is far more English. It does look to have had a lot of restoration and not the best I've seen but very easily sorted out. At least 1 of the lids isn't original, the lock been changed, it's been stripped, a poor veneer patch as well as a missing escutcheon but a good restoration project. The escutcheon can be made using masking tape over the hole and doing a rubbing then peel off the tape and stick it on the new bit of brass as a template, use a drill to make the opening for the key and finish with a file. The lock can be unscrewed from the back to see why it isn't working. The bad bit of veneer can be removed with a hot iron and a new bit can be taken off old furniture that's beyond repair (these are always knocking about for free or for next to nothing) Then it's a matter of French polishing, this is easy, give it a few coats with a fine haired brush then take some 0000 wire wool lightly go over to dull the shine and finish with a wax polish.

 

That’s absolutely a replacement bowl, would have been a nice handblown one. I buy them whenever I see them.

That Dutch one, to my eye, has quite different geometry and shape from Marote’s box and mine, so I do think hers is English.