Tea Caddy by Jennens and Bettridge
SOLD
PAPIER MACHE TEA CADDY OF EXHIBITION QUALITY INCISED JENNENS AND BETTRIDGE TO THE UNDERSIDE
Birmingham and London. Circa 1845
Width 8 ½ ” (22cm) Height 5 ¼” (13cm) Depth 5 ½” (14 cm )
This rare, exquisite and possibly unique tea caddy is all over decorated with Abalone fragments in varying shades and colours. The rising lid encloses two lidded and lined compartments.
Jennens and Bettridge; later John Bettridge, leading papier-mache ware manufacturers 1816 -1870. In 1816 they took over Henry Clay at 19, 20 and 21 Barr Street, Birmingham and by 1837 had opened showrooms at 3 Halkin Street West, Belgravia, London. In 1825 they took out a patent for ‘ornamenting papier-mache with pearl shell’ and this technique together with painted decoration provided a brilliant effect because of the iridescent quality of the mother of pearl. The high standard of their work was quickly recognised and they were soon to become ‘Japanners in Ordinary to His Majesty’. Royal commissions were received from not only George IV, but also William IV and later, Queen Victoria. Initially the bulk of their production was small items but by 1839 they began to produce large items of furniture including two folding screens for Buckingham Palace.
The business reached its peak in the early 1850s with exhibits of chairs and other objects at the Great Exhibition. Further exhibitions followed in London, Dublin and Paris as well as further major commissions, such as decorative panels for the Viceroy of India’s yacht.
£3,800
