Silver tea caddy

Silver tea caddy

Unidentified makers mark

antlers with crown, circa 1700

506 grams; 14,3 cm high

The sides and shoulders of this rectangular tea caddy are decorated with cut card motifs in the form of scrolling acanthus leaves on a matted ground. The partially matted detachable and cylindrical cap with a domed top has a bell-shaped finial. The sleeve is inscribed with the initials E.A.B and A.S and marked with an unidentified mark’s mark. Displaying assay stripes on the four interior sides.

Cut-card technique is a decorative appliqué technique in which sheets of silver are cut into patterns, then applied to the body of an object as ornamentation, similar to appliqué work in sewing. Cut-card technique was popular on British and French silver in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, probably originating in Paris where this technique was used in the 4th quarter of the 17th century. Not much later, cut card was also used by silversmiths from the Low Countries. In particular Adam Loofs, a silversmith from The Hague, who came from Paris, applied this technique and possibly introduced it. Other silversmiths in this period, for example from Amsterdam and Maastricht, often used cut card on objects related to tea or coffee, such as coffee urns, teapots and tea caddies.

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