Magento Commerce

Vizagapatam Stag Horn Serpentine Tea Caddy with Provenance, it belonged to Col.Montague Cholmeley who was in India serving as an officer of the 27th Madras Native Infantry. Montague married in 1853 to Adelaide Maria Kilvert, cousin of the diarist The Rev'd Francis Kilvert

The interior of this impressive Vizagapatam Tea Caddy is constructed of sandal wood and veneered with buffalo horn, contains two Ivory lids both engraved & Lac filled with floral borders very similar to pen work decoration.

This eye catching stag horn tea caddy contains 100% of its original lead lining and comes complete with fully working lock & tasselled key.

The fashion for ivory veneering began in Vizagapatam in the middle of the eighteenth century superceding inlay work as the predominant vogue. Tastes developed and the cabinet-making industry met a demand for decorative items in the neoclassical vogue with the stark contrast of black and white, as seen here. This fashion also influenced the style of engraving that decorated these pieces, which became increasingly restrained, "shedding ... exotic decorative elements in ... favour of motifs that were in fashion in Europe.