Dictionary of English Pieces - Cabinets,
Caddies, Canterbury
Cabinets
Cabinets with hinged doors, with or without drawers
inside, were made in the later seventeenth century, and much attention was paid to their
decoration. They were veneered with rare woods, inlaid with marquetry and embellished with
plates of embossed silver. They were placed on stands of turned wood, and
later on elaborately carved giltwood bases. Many lacquered cabinets were imported from the
Far East, and placed on similar stands for use in English rooms.
Cabinets on stands did not retain their great popularity in the eighteenth century, but
their place was taken by book and china cases with glazed doors. About 1800 low cabinets
standing on the ground came into fashion, and many of these had marble tops and the doors
were inset with panels of silk or with gilt brass trellis.
Caddies
The caddy owes its name to a Chinese weight, a catty or kali, which equals
about one and a third pounds. Much of the tea coming from the East was doubtless packed in
amounts of one catty, and the name of the quantity became corrupted into that of the box
to hold it. Although tea-caddies were made from different materials, many were of wood and
it is proper therefore to mention them under the heading of Furniture. Few, if any,
survive from before about 1740, but in 1752 Chippendale showed in his Director designs for
a number of them, elaborately shaped and carved. Each succeeding designer influenced the
shape, colouring and ornament of the tea-caddy, and the immense number of variations in
pattern are too numerous to list. Many of them had silver containers inside a wooden outer
case, others had removable wooden boxes. In the nineteenth century it was common to fit
them with two boxes, one each for green and black tea, and a glass bowl; the latter
described variously as for holding sugar and for blending the teas.
Canterbury
This is the name given to a low open stand with divisions, a drawer
beneath and short legs, for holding music. They were made in mahogany from about 1800, and
later in rosewood and walnut. No one knows how they got their name, but it is assumed that
one was designed in the first instance for an Archbishop of Canterbury. They are very
popular nowadays, not always for holding sheet music but for newspapers.
Collectable Antiques: