Are most silver tea caddies boxes or spoons?

Both. Spoons carry the word in a quarter of all titles in the archive, and they make up more than half of what is currently listed on Sellingantiques. The boxes and canisters are the other half of the story, and the commonest of those is a small hallmarked sterling caddy of the Victorian or Edwardian decades.

What period do these caddies date from?

The dated field spans 1700 to 1950. Fewer than half the listings carry a clean year, and much of the rest is entered by decade or as a reign. Edwardian and Victorian labels outnumber Georgian. The earliest hallmark quoted in a title is a George I caddy of 1726, with 1745, 1752, 1753, 1755, 1759 and 1762 also present.

How much does a silver caddy usually weigh?

Weights are quoted often enough in titles to compare. Boxes of the Victorian and Edwardian sort tend to cluster around 100 to 200 grammes. The range runs wider than that. The lightest named piece is a 28g spoon, and the heaviest single caddy stated is 460 grammes, with 328g, 270g and 266g behind it.

Is silver plate common in this category?

Yes, about one in eight listings. Titles say plated or plate, and these sit at the lower end of the range. Old Sheffield plate forms its own small run, dated across roughly 1775 to 1840, separate from the late Victorian and Edwardian electroplated caddies.

Do foreign silver caddies turn up?

A visible minority, perhaps one in ten. German work appears, along with Hanau, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian 830S, Swedish, Italian and Portuguese pieces. Colonial and export silver shows up too: Indian, Ceylon, Javanese, Chinese Straits export, American sterling and Japanese natsume.

Which shapes are unusual?

Novelty forms turn up once in a blue moon. Recorded shapes include a paint tin, a jockey's cap as both caddy and spoon, a miniature knife box, a troika sledge, a tiffin box and a car-shaped plated caddy. Spoons carry the widest vocabulary of all: shovel, apostle, shell bowl, vine leaf, grape leaf, acorn, thistle handle and sifter, with handles of mother-of-pearl, chalcedony and green-stained ivory.

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Antique Silver Tea Caddies

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A lidded silver box for dry tea leaf, or the short-handled spoon used to measure it out, both made in Britain from the days when tea was kept locked away.