A tea poy is a small pedestal table featuring a lidded storage box on top, designed for the Victorian drawing room to hold dry tea leaves. Inside, these boxes often contain lidded canisters and mixing bowls, supported by a central carved pillar and sturdy base.

How do I date a rosewood box?

Dating relies on architectural styles, construction methods, and secondary materials such as brass stringing or mother-of-pearl inlay. Regency and William IV pieces often display heavy classical proportions, whereas later Victorian examples incorporate more eclectic marquetry and varied internal trays.

Were these boxes lined with fabric?

Many interior compartments and trays originally featured silk fabric, paper, or velvet linings to protect delicate jewellery and sewing tools. Surviving examples occasionally retain fragments of these original textiles, though many have been relined over the decades.

What is Anglo-Indian colonial furniture?

Anglo-Indian pieces are items made in India by local artisans using indigenous techniques applied to European furniture forms. They are characterised by deep, dense carving featuring floral and foliage motifs executed in heavy tropical hardwoods like rosewood and padouk.