Containers made in every conceivable shape and size and of myriad materials were an indispensable part of Georgian and Victorian life, and were used to hold everything from cutlery to cosmetics.

Tea was prepared by the lady of the house and served with some ceremony. The teapoys and caddies that held the precious leaves are popular collectables today. They usually contained two lidded boxes — for black and green teas — and perhaps a glass bowl in which the teas could be blended or sugar could be kept.

Caddies range in value from thousands of pounds for 18th-century silver examples to just a few pounds for 20th-century tinware caddies. Those from before about 1850 usually have a brass or silver lock to guard against pilferers. Tortoiseshell caddies of this period fetch around £150-£650, wooden caddies inlaid with mother-of-pearl about £150, and less ornate wooden examples under £100.

Antique Collector Magazine

Women’s workboxes for sewing, writing or travelling equipment reached a peak of craftsmanship in the late 18th and early 20th centuries. They were decorated in similar ways to tea caddies and lined with luxurious materials. Plain mahogany examples now fetch £200-£300, ornate inlaid pieces £2500.

Cutlery boxes have suffered the ravages of dealers and changing fashions, the great majority having been altered — frequently by replacing the cutlery divisions with divisions for stationery. Open rectangular boxes are common and even Georgian examples fetch only £100 or so. More elaborate George II lidded upright boxes were made in pairs, although few matched pairs now survive.

Small wine coolers are generally silver, but larger floor-standing versions, also called cisterns, are usually of mahogany lined with lead or zinc, and are often coopered like a barrel. Most such pieces sell today for £2000-£5000, but fine Georgian or Regency examples may top £1 0,000.

Plate pails were used by servants to carry plates to and from the dining room. They have a vertical slot on one side for handling the plates, but these have often been closed to convert the pails into wastepaper baskets. Log and peat buckets are much rarer and more expensive, fetching up to £l0, 000, but late Victorian oak coal scuttles, or `purdoniums’, are quite easy to find for about £100, as are copper or brass ‘helmet’ scuttles.

Marquetry for the Masses

Wooden articles decorated in a distinctive style that mimics marquetry were made in enormous numbers at Tunbridge Wells, Kent, in the 20th century and known as Tunbridge ware. The technique used dates back to the late 17th century. Strips of different- coloured woods were carefully arranged and glued in a bundle so that the ends formed a mosaic-like pattern. Thin layers were then cut across the pattern and glued onto the object, like veneer.

Produced more quickly and cheaply than marquetry, the range of Tunbridge ware included anything from Yo-yos to tables, but above all boxes — until competition from the Far East proved too much. Quality and condition are crucial to the value of Tunbridge ware, but many pieces are well within the reach of most collectors, with prices starting at just a few pounds.

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