Description:
TC537: 18th century tea caddy with domed top  the oak carcass veneered with a parquetry of rosewood and satinwood  in alternating stripes. framed by a cross-banding in kingwood.  The escutcheon is gilded bronze.  The inside is lined with lead foil. There is a single lid which would sit on the tea in the 18th century manner. Circa 1770.

Origin: UK or Holland Circa: 1770 Materials: rosewood satinwood and kingwood on an oak carcass.

Size: It measures 7.2  inches wide  by 4.5 inches deep and it is 4.5 inches  high: 18.5 cm wide by 11.5 cm deep by 11.5 cm high.

Condition: good overall,  working lock and key,  see images. There are some undulations  to the shape.
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. 

Inside the caddy is lined with lead foil. The top is lined in old baize.

The single lid sits on the tea in the 18th century manner

 The underside of the lid retains much of its lining.

The chest form is one of the earliest tea caddy shapes, following the fashion for chests and furniture in the period before the neoclassical revival.

Alternating strips of rosewood and satinwood are framed by kingwood.

The back continues the elegant stripes theme.

 

Side view.

The caddy open. 

Detail showing the protruding top facing which gives the top part a definition. This again is found in early caddies.

Note that there is some movement and cracking of the thick veneers due to the movement of the wood underneath. However the structure shows no signs of weakness.

The underside which is not covered. The wood is oak.

The cast  escutcheon is cast bronze with gilding.