Antique Victorian Tortoiseshell and Mother of Pearl Tea Caddy with Abalone Inlay and Working Key, England Circa 1850 to 1870 Medium: Hand-painted porcelain with gilt

Medium: Hand-painted porcelain with gilt bronze mounts

an increasingly rare and desirable feature

often presented as gifts or used by fashionable households to organize correspondence

and preserved together for over 250 years

adding history

Antique Victorian Tortoiseshell and Mother of Pearl Tea Caddy with Abalone Inlay and Working Key, England Circa 1850 to 1870 Medium: Hand-painted porcelain with giltAntique Victorian Tortoiseshell and Mother of Pearl Tea Caddy with Abalone Inlay and Working Key, England Circa 1850 to 1870 A striking mid 19th century English tea caddy crafted in beautifully figured tortoiseshell and richly inlaid with mother of pearl and abalone shell in an elegant geometric mosaic design. The bombe form body rests on turned feet and is decorated with luminous diamond panels that shimmer with iridescent color against the deep