In the18th and 19th century most wealthy houses would own at least one tea caddy. As tea was an expensive commodity, it would often be kept under lock and key in wooden caddys. 
 
This is an early 19th century rosewood tea caddy, with inlaid mother of pearl, it has two seperate compartments, usually for green and black tea, both showing remnants of the silver foiled lining used to preserve the tea. The compartments both have lids with tiny turned bone handles - one poriginal and one has been loving replaced probably by the butler of the house. This caddy would have originally had a key but this unfortunately has been separated from the caddy over time. The caddy still has the original pink patterned paper and material inside the lid.
 
The caddy is in overall very good condition, there are some tiny strips of mother of pearl missing.
 
Dimesions: 23cm x 17cm x 15cm high.