{"product_id":"victorian-mahogany-sarcophagus-shape-2-section-small-tea-caddy","title":"Victorian mahogany sarcophagus tea caddy, c. 1860's","description":"\u003ch3\u003eAbout this piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis small mahogany tea caddy takes the sarcophagus form that had already been fashionable for decades by the time it was made in England around the 1860's, a shape borrowed loosely from Egyptian Revival taste and applied to just about every box-like object the Victorians could get their hands on. The domed lid carries a gadrooned border along the top, and the whole thing sits up on four squat bun feet, giving a fairly small object more visual weight than its size would suggest.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInside, two separate sections kept different grades of tea apart — practical, since tea was expensive enough in the earlier part of the century to be locked away, though by the 1860's that habit had more to do with tradition than actual necessity. It's a good example of how a purely functional object could still be treated as something worth a bit of ceremony.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eCondition notes\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eVery good antique condition. Wear inside and to liner appropriate to age and use; no internal lids; losses to corners; lid doesn't sit flush; some cracking to the exterior veneer.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rita's Bazaar","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54035563675981,"sku":"3173","price":105.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0975\/4191\/4957\/files\/29-IMG_1737-Photoroom.webp?v=1780945621","url":"https:\/\/ritasbazaar.co.uk\/products\/victorian-mahogany-sarcophagus-shape-2-section-small-tea-caddy","provider":"Rita’s Bazaar","version":"1.0","type":"link"}