OLD SHEFFIELD PLATED SET.
Date 1825.
(By courtesy of Walter H. Willson, Esq.)
OLD SHEFFIELD PLATED SET WITH TRAY.
Date 1830.
(By courtesy of Walter H. Willson, Esq.)
The earliest tea caddies came from China and were decorated in blue and white. Worcester produced fine examples, some in powder blue. Whieldon made and dated others "Green Tea, 1765." Wedgwood had his square canisters in black basalt ware. Liverpool printed dainty transfer pictures on these dainty caskets. They are found enamelled by Battersea in rich colours. They are found in pewter and they are found in glass. Bristol produced white opaque bottles inscribed "Hyson" and "Bohea," and there are square cut-glass caddies with silver mounts and handles, and in Holland the old Delft examples came with the early days of tea drinking. The cabinet-makers, Chippendale and Hepplewhite and Sheraton, show tea caddies in their Design Books and they were splendid pieces of work in mahogany and satinwood with ivory and coloured marquetry. Many of the little caddy spoons of such pleasing variety of shape were made to go with these tea caddies, and were produced at Sheffield as well as in solid silver.
Tea and Coffee Sets.—It was not until about 1820 to 1825 that tea sets were produced with teapot, cream jug, and sugar basin as well as the coffee pot. The set illustrated (p. [197]), about 1810 in date, shows this omission. Later in 1820, as shown in the illustration below, the coffee pot became part of the set; and in the illustration of the sets it is clearly seen that the styles of the coffee pots are in keeping with the rest of the set and have not been matched or added later. The four-piece sets became a common feature after the first quarter of the nineteenth century, and some of these are of pleasing character. Two sets, 1825 and 1830 in date, are illustrated (p. [199]). With these were accompanying trays of solid manufacture and about this date they were very heavy and richly ornamented by die work with appliqué shell patterns and foliage at the rims. They only emulated the very solid silver of the late Georgian era when silver was sold by weight by the dealers and so much added for "fashion," that is, fashioning it. This latter item in massive pieces was a comparatively insignificant sum compared with the total cost, which provoked the eighteenth century epigram:
When Loveless married Lady Jenny,
Whose beauty was the ready penny;
"I chose her," said he, "like old plate,
Not for the fashion but the weight."