A small antique walnut tea caddy, circa 1820 with two lidded compartments for green and black tea the lids with bone handles. The caddy is most unusual as it has elaborate brass strapwork and an unusually detailed brass escutcheon on a domed lid. In England in the 18th and early 19th centuries tea was seen as an exotic commodity and was certainly expensive, it would have been kept in a locked caddy under the control of the lady of the house, protected from casual theft by the servants and dispensed sparingly and with great ritual, this caddy is an excellent example. As the caddy was a social status symbol under the close scrutiny of visitors to the house, caddies such as these were made to the very highest standards of the cabinet makers art. The measurements are 21.5 x 12.5 x 12.2cm (8.5" x 5" x 4.75"). During the Victorian era new sources of tea became available from Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and India and so the containers became larger as the product reduced in price.