What sort of box turns up most often?

Tea caddies. The word caddy appears in 49 of 268 titles and tea in 54, which makes it the largest identifiable form in the category by a clear margin. Behind it sit generic table boxes, caskets, and jewellery, trinket and keepsake boxes, which together account for roughly another two-fifths of what has been listed.

Which woods do these boxes use?

Rosewood is the commonest named timber at 24 titles, then walnut, burr veneers and mahogany. Coromandel, the dense black-and-brown striped hardwood, appears on eight. Beyond those, the archive carries amboyna, kingwood, satinwood, thuya, padouk, laburnum oyster and Gonçalo Alves, usually on smaller pieces where a striking veneer does the decorating.

Are there named makers in this category?

No. The category is described by material, form and decoration rather than by workshop, and no maker registers as a category-wide presence. What does get named instead is origin: English on 19 titles and French on 18, with single appearances for Swedish, Dutch, Russian, Persian, Afghan, Qajar Iranian, Burmese and Scottish work.

How old are the oldest examples?

The dated field runs from 1750 to 1950. The earliest clean years attach to a George II brass-mounted padouk tea caddy of about 1760, an English lead tobacco keeper of about 1750, and two tortoiseshell caddies also given as 1750. A few pieces go further back on the strength of their titles alone: a 17th-century olive wood lace box, a 17th-century floral marquetry box and a 17th-century Afghan box.

What counts as a fitted interior?

Anything the box was built to carry that's still with it. Caddies come with inner metal canisters, a glass mixing bowl, a mixing stick, a sugar dish or a key. Sewing, writing and games boxes carry their own fittings. Listings tend to spell it out in the title, with words like complete or fitted interior doing the selling.

Do unusual or novelty boxes appear?

Regularly enough to count as a minor theme. Book-shaped boxes recur, including a pair of stacking books, three fake books and a leather faux-book casket, plus a biscuit tin made to imitate carved Indian hardwood. Other oddities have included a carved coconut shell, a porcupine quill box, a four-tier treen spice tower and a painted waste paper bin sold as a tea canister.

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Antique Decorative Boxes

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Small lidded containers made to sit out on a table, built to hold things that once cost money: tea, jewels, snuff, sewing kit and writing materials.

17th century

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17th Century Afghan Box

From Deja Vu St Leonards

£150

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

Arts and Crafts Beaten and Rivetted Steel and Cloisonné Enamel Casket

1900 - 1920

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Arts and Crafts Beaten and Rivetted Steel and Cloisonné Enamel Casket

From Morgan Strickland Decorative Arts

£995

3+ MONTHS AGO

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Antique Ladies Table Box, Italian, Lacquer, Oak, Keepsake Case, Victorian, 1900

19th century

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Antique Ladies Table Box, Italian, Lacquer, Oak, Keepsake Case, Victorian, 1900

From London Fine Antiques

£725

3+ MONTHS AGO

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Small Antique Sharing Box, Japanese, Lacquered, Meiji, Keepsake Case, Victorian

19th century

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Small Antique Sharing Box, Japanese, Lacquered, Meiji, Keepsake Case, Victorian

From London Fine Antiques

£495

3+ MONTHS AGO

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Antique French Tortoise Shell Tea Caddy Box - Key - Inner Cannisters - Sugar Dish 1820c

19th century

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Antique French Tortoise Shell Tea Caddy Box - Key - Inner Cannisters - Sugar Dish 1820c

From Sovereign Antiques Of Nuneaton

£2,450

3+ MONTHS AGO

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Victorian Walnut and Parquetry Keepsake Box

19th century

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Victorian Walnut and Parquetry Keepsake Box

From Past to Present

£145

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

18th century

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Tortoise Shell Tea Caddy

From Sovereign Antiques Of Nuneaton

£2,450

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

19th century

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Very Fine Mother-of-pearl Sewing Box

From Quiet Street Antiques of Bath

£895

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

19th century

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Decorative Traditional 19th Century Hand Painted Swedish Box

From Debenham Antiques Ltd

£595

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

19th century

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An Antique Treen Four Tier Spice Tower

From Opus Antiques

£295

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

English and French boxes make up the bulk on Sellingantiques. Swedish, Russian, Persian, Qajar Iranian, Burmese and Scottish examples turn up once each.

Antique George IV Gonçalo Alves & Amboyna Marquetry Sarcophagus Tea Caddy C1825

18th century

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Antique George IV Gonçalo Alves & Amboyna Marquetry Sarcophagus Tea Caddy C1825

From N Wilson Antiques Clocks

£1,225

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

19th century

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Carved 19th Century Coconut Shell

From Jane Short Antiques

£375

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

19th century

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Fine Early 19th Century Yew-wood Barrel

From Walton House Antiques

£650

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

Fine Quality Antique Regency Rosewood Tea Caddy

19th century

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Fine Quality Antique Regency Rosewood Tea Caddy

From Unique Antiques by Emma Jade

£895

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

1900 - 1920

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Tea Caddy

From Douglas George Antiques

£170

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

18th century

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Chippendale Mahogany Tea Caddy

From Reindeer Antiques

£2,100

3+ MONTHS AGO

boxes

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Antique Decorative Boxes

17th Century Afghan Box

Arts and Crafts Beaten and Rivetted Steel and Cloisonné Enamel Casket

Antique Ladies Table Box, Italian, Lacquer, Oak, Keepsake Case, Victorian, 1900

Small Antique Sharing Box, Japanese, Lacquered, Meiji, Keepsake Case, Victorian

Antique French Tortoise Shell Tea Caddy Box - Key - Inner Cannisters - Sugar Dish 1820c

Victorian Walnut and Parquetry Keepsake Box

Tortoise Shell Tea Caddy

Very Fine Mother-of-pearl Sewing Box

Decorative Traditional 19th Century Hand Painted Swedish Box

An Antique Treen Four Tier Spice Tower

Antique George IV Gonçalo Alves & Amboyna Marquetry Sarcophagus Tea Caddy C1825

Carved 19th Century Coconut Shell

Fine Early 19th Century Yew-wood Barrel

Fine Quality Antique Regency Rosewood Tea Caddy

Tea Caddy

Chippendale Mahogany Tea Caddy

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