This Tunbridge ware tea caddy was made around 1830-1840 in Tunbridge Wells. The centre panel is decorated with parquetry or perspective cube work, a type of decoration which was popular throughout the nineteenth century. A craftsman often used over forty different woods to make a single object. This tea caddy is faced with a veneer of rosewood and makes use of exotic timbers like partridgewood and Palmyra to achieve the broken lines and stippling effects.