Description:
Shaped Coromandel twin compartment tea caddy  standing on turned ebony feet. 

Origin: UK

Circa: Circa 1840

Materials: coromandel ebony on a pine carcass.  

Size: It measures  8.5 inches wide  by  5.7 inches deep and it is 6 inches  high including feet: 21.5cm wide by 14.5 cm deep by 15.1 cm high.

Condition: Good overall, working lock and key

The Sides are tapered 

The front view really shows off the dramatic shape; this is inspired by Egyptian architectural forms which influenced European design in the early 19th century.

  The curved veneering  dark coromandel  in the cavetto molding of the lid would have difficult to make. The Coromandel has to be thinned down enough to bend without cracking. 

The coromandel which is a sort of ebony  and has all the hardness is saw cut. The wood is too brittle to be knife cut, which made a thin veneer which is much easier to use. 

 

The caddy maker was exploring the grammar of controlled wood with punctuation. 

A light colored piece of wood has been selected for the bottom facing emphasizing the highly contrasting figure of the wood.  

 

 Inside there are two supplementary lids with turned ebony handles.

The composition in expensive hardwoods was meant to convey a sense of quality and luxury. 

The figure of the wood was relied on for the interest. 

The mother of pearl escutcheon is austere.

There is some original leading in the compartments, which is consistent with age.

 There is a blank mother of pearl plaque inlaid in the top.  

 The inner lids have turned ebony handles.