Description:
TC560:  Rare oval Japanned  toleware tea caddy decorated with raised chinoiserie scenes depicting pavilions in gardens in two colours of gold. Circa 1790.

Origin: UK; Circa: 1790  Materials: iron sheet.

Size: It measures 5.1 inches wide  by 3.4 inches deep and it is 4.4 inches  high: 13 cm wide by 8.5 cm deep by11.2 cm high.

Condition: good overall,  working lock and key,  see images.
As each person has different criteria and antiques by their very nature have wear  please enlarge the images and ask for extra information as needed. 

Toleware is tinned sheet steel or iron. The tin coating was applied to resist rust. the joints were achieved with solder of the same material.

The origin of  of the name  is the French  tôle peinte. -   painted tin The first tole ware was made early in the 18th centaury.   

Toleware is sometimes known as Pontypool ware.  A factory to produce toleware was established about 1732 in Pontypool  Monmouthshire.

The decoration sometimes called japanning  was particularly durable.  The varnishes were hardened  by baking.

When closely inspected a fine crazing of the painting is visible  

 

See: Chapter 3 Antique Boxes, Tea Caddies, and Society, 1700--1880 
Antigone Clarke & Joseph O'Kelly, ISBN: 0764316885

As early as the 1660s, Samuel Pepys mentioned chinoiserie designs in a "book with rare Cutts". However, it was not until 1688 that a really comprehensive and well distributed publication appeared, which was to influence chinoiserie for the next hundred and fifty years. This was a book by J. Stalker and G. Parker which explained how to prepare the surface, build up and paint the decoration and prepare and apply varnishes. The book also provided designs for copying. The designs, with their precise shapes and well defined lines, were easy to follow and are recognizable in many a box. There were complete scenes as well as pages of specific items to copy from, as for example various birds, so that a person could choose and compose scenes according to individual preference.

 

Confusion of terms apart, the contribution of this book to the spread of japanned chinoiserie cannot be overstated. Arcane information about the properties of gums and varnishes was freely given. Instructions on how to coat a wooden surface and how to varnish to a mirror like finish were explained in detail. Pigments to be used for the attainment of different colors were listed with their properties. The reader was also tutored in the use of metal dusts for creating special effects, a direct copy from Chinese and Japanese practices. The different instruments needed were also described. These were such things as quills, varnishing pencils and Dutch rushes (a horse tail used for polishing).

The gist of the instructions and of similar instructions given in other publications was that the surface of the wood should be coated in whiting and parchment size in as many layers as was necessary. Each layer should be dried completely before the next coat was applied. If the decoration was to incorporate raised parts, these were to be built up with a paste made of gum arabic, water and whiting. For extra hardness, fine sawdust could also be mixed into the paste. A rush pencil stick was to be used to build up and shape the raised surfaces which were to form the artificial rocks, mountains and other features in the landscape. People, birds, buildings, animals and plants could be given a three dimensional effect by first raising and then incising and painting their shapes.

The underside shows signs of wear.

 Inside there is a little rusting where the tinning has broken down.

The lock which still works is soldered to the box. The oxidation is indicative of the age.

The designs on the caddy are rooted in the chinoiserie tradition and very close to the designs proffered by Stalker and Parker.

There is a "Dutch drop" handle in the centre of the top, a typical late 18th century feature.

Tole ware and papier mâchè were Europe's answer to Oriental lacquer.

This picture shows the Tole ware caddy with a rare 18th Chinese Export  lacquer  tea caddy.

It is interesting to compare the work on these two caddies. They are both rare in form. The toleware caddy which was made in England is striving to appear oriental. The Chinese caddy follows the neoclassical European tradition and was obviously made to appeal to the taste of a Westerner.