Tea caddy (one of a pair)

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The term caddy, now used for any tea container, derived from the Eastern word kati, meaning about 12/3 pounds. Caddies were ornamental boxes fitted with one- or two-lidded compartments. Of elliptical shape, this delicate example is decorated with rolled paperwork. The central medallion shows a young girl with a lamb painted on silk. During the late eighteenth century it became a favorite pastime for young ladies to decorate objects in this manner, the materials being available for this purpose from professional suppliers. The color is remarkably fresh since the tea caddy has been kept in its original cardboard box.

European Sculpture and Decorative Arts

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The fifty thousand objects in the Museum's comprehensive and historically important collection of European sculpture and decorative arts reflect the development of a number of art forms in Western European countries from the early fifteenth through the early twentieth century. The holdings include sculpture in many sizes and media, woodwork and furniture, ceramics and glass, metalwork and jewelry, horological and mathematical instruments, and tapestries and textiles. Ceramics made in Asia for export to European markets and sculpture and decorative arts produced in Latin America during this period are also included among these works.

Metropolitan Museum of Art