Very Rare Tunbridge Ware Tea Caddy Tamo Ash c1865

Description

Heading : Tunbridge ware tea caddy with single compartment with Tamo Ash Veneer

Date : c1865

Period : Victoria

Origin : Tunbridge Wells, Kent

Decoration : Central stylised flower head. Border with tessellated banding within keylines. Cover opens to reveal single comparement tea caddy with foil lining

Size : 11.6×10.3cm, 10.4cm height

Condition : Good – some short losses to left side of the frame of the cover with associated tesserae loss to the keylines. Key absent

Restoration : None

Weight : 335 grams

Almost certainly designed by Thomas Barton – either towards the very end of his time with Edmund Nye or in the early stages of his independence. This is the first time we have encountered the rare Tamo Ash veneer in Tunbridge Ware. Tamo ash is one of the rarest figured woods to be found worldwide and this veneer probably originated in Japan or possibly the United States.