An important and very unusual pair of George III Tea Caddies made in London in 1793 by William Frisbee

An important and very unusual pair of George III Tea Caddies made in London in 1793 by William Frisbee. All contained within a contemporary satinwood case, the hinges and handle also hallmarked for 1793.

The pair of Tea Caddies are of an unusual oval form with upwardly curved rim. The sides are beautifully engraved with an upper and lower band of bright cut scrolls and foliate motifs on a scratch engraved and prick dot ground. Each side is engraved with an unusual cartouche with incuse corners. One cartouche is vacant and the other is engraved with a contemporary Scottish Crest with the motto "Nil Conscire Sibi - Conscious of no wrong" above.

The curved, slightly domed, cover is engraved with an outer band identical to those shown on the sides and terminates in a Neo Classical urn finial, also engraved with bright cut designs. The caddies are most unusual as they open from the side, not in the usual manner from the front. The caddies are each in excellent condition and are fully marked in the foot and with the maker's mark and sterling mark on the cover.

The pair of caddies are contained within a most breathtaking satinwood case with hallmarked hinges and escutcheon shaped handle and reeded oval mounts. It is most unusual to find fully hallmarked hinges, and handle, which accurately date the case, as the same as the caddies. The interior is lined with the original silk, velvet and gold braid.

The Crest and Motto are those of Liet-Col Jonathan Bullock of Foulkbourn Hall, County Essex. He was M.P. for Essex in many parliaments and, in 1763, married Miss Elizabeth Lante. He died without issue in 1809 and his estates devolved upon his nephew Jonathan Joshua Christopher Watson who, in 1810, assumed the surname and Arms of Bullock by Royal Licence.

The Bullock family were descended from Robert Bullock of Herburghfield, County Berkshire. He was Sheriff of County Berks and Oxford under Richard II. hE DIED IN 1405.

Faulkbourne Hall is a Grade I listed Manor House in the village of Faulkbourne in Essex, the manor being first mentioned under Edward the Confessor. The earliest surviving parts of the Hall, a red brick building with turrets, date from the 15th century. Sir Edward Bullock, Knight, purchased the Hall and Manor of Faulkbourne in 1637.

The hall is considered a fine speciment of early Tudor red brick design. Its exterior holds a number of metalled vanes, in the form of flags bearing the initials of the Bullock family, which owned the Hall from 1637-1897.

William Frisbee was an exceptional maker whose work is of the finest quality in terms of design and production. He was apprentice to John Crouch and was in partnership with the great Paul Storr from 1792-1798. He died in December 1820. The Tea Caddies are in excellent, crisp, condition with clear hallmarks.

The Tea Caddies:

Height: 6.25 inches, 15.63cm.
Length: 5.75 inches, 14.38 cm.
Width: 3.9 inches, 9.75cm.
Weight: 32oz, the pair.

The Case:

Length: 10 inches, 25cm.
Width: 7 inches, 17.5cm.
Height: 7 inches, 17.5cm.

Price

This object is eligible for a Certificate of BADA Provenance

Stock number