Tea chest

Date1775-1800

MediumMahogany, spruce, brass, paper

DimensionsOH: 6"; OW: 9 7/8"; OD: 5 7/8"

Credit LineMuseum Purchase

Object number1971-3

DescriptionTea chest with hinged lid; brass rosette and swan-neck bail handle centered on top of lid which has thumbnail molding and cove molding over thick, straight rectangular bottom edge with squared off lip with cockbeaded edge; light and dark alternating diagonal banding around edge of top; bombe shaped chest with cock bead around base; ogee bracket feet; inset brass escutcheon lock on upper center of chest front; interior has dadoes in the front and back for two vertical dividers (now missing) that woud have divided the interior into three equal sized sections to contain tea caddies; two brass hinges attach lid to chest on back of object. Tea chest is lined with red print wallpaper in the interior of lid. Wallpaper is English or American, 1790-1800.
ProvenanceGood & Hutchinson, vendors from Tolland, Massachusetts, stated in a 1971 letter that the tea caddy came from "a picker who gets things from familys all over Boston."