Tea caddy

This rosewood tea caddy was made in Tunbridge in Kent by George Wise Junior who was active between around 1862 and 1876, and died in 1899. It dates from around 1870 and is typical of the Victorian souvenirs available for sale in the famous spa town of Tunbridge Wells.

The top of the caddy is inlaid with a marquetry mosaic picture of Tunbridge Abbey.

Tunbridge Wells was within easy travelling distance from London and became a popular destination for a visit. In the mid 18th century the fashionable wooden souvenirs available there would have included tea-chests, dressing boxes, snuff boxes and punch ladles. Towards the end of the 18th century and early 19th century, tea caddies and marquetry boxes became popular. During the 1830s and 1840s, Tunbridge ware underwent a fundamental change and became synonymous with work decorated with mosaic pictures or patterns cut from blocks assembled from sticks of different colours.

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