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List of Makers and Retailers

SANDOE, Anthony: Listed as tea chest manufacturer at 11 Calthorpe Place, Grays Inn Lane, London (1823), at 54 Southampton Row, Russell Square (1829-39), and at 24 King Street, Holborn (1837-39), London, in Robson’s London Commercial Directory, 1823. 

SANGWINE, M. (& family): (fl. 1809-1824). Retailers; Perfumers and hardwaremen. and ‘Tunbridge ware & deskman’ at 38 Strand, London (1820). Listed as ‘Tunbridge ware and deskman’ in Robson’s London Directory, 1820. Tunbridge ware whitewood tea caddy with penwork decoration; two compartments with labels under inner lids for ‘M. SANGWINE, 38 STRAND, LONDON’, listing various products, including tea chests and caddies, brushes, travelling cases, fine cutlery, portable writing desks etc. (Private collection; Chapter 6: Tunbridge Ware, Figure 6.12, and Chapter 9: Penwork, Figure 9.24)  

SAUNDERS, Richard: Furniture maker and upholsterer in Mount Street, London. Supplied furniture to Colonel Henry Knight of Tythegston Court, Glamorgan, 1815-1823. In 1818, submitted proposals for three rosewood stands for existing tea chests, and one design for new rosewood teapoy. (Chapter 23; Teapoys …) 

SAUNDERS & PIERCY: 105 Snow Hill, Birmingham. Advertised as a ‘Manufactory for tortoiseshell, ivory & leather boxes, tooth picks & tea caddees’ in Bisset’s A Poetic Survey Round Birmingham, 1800. 

SAUNDERS & SHEPHERD (Cornelius Desormeaux Saunders (Snr) and James Francis Hollings Shepherd): (fl. 1869 onwards). Silversmiths and jewellers; by 1916 had factories at 58-61 Fetter Lane, London, 94 Vyse Street, Birmingham, and branch at 62 Buchanan Street, Glasgow. Several tea caddies with silver mounts bear their marks; Tortoiseshell flask caddy, dated 1887-88 (Private collection; Chapter 11: Tortoiseshell, Figure 11.31); mother-of-pearl caddy, dated 1896 (Private collection; Chapter 12: Mother-of-Pearl, Figure 12.12); mother-of-pearl caddy, dated 1895 (Private collection; Chapter 12: Mother-of-Pearl, Figure 12.14); mother-of-pearl caddy, dated 1896 (Private collection; Chapter 12: Mother-of-Pearl, Figure 12.15)  

SEDDON, George (& family): (fl. 1753-1868). Cabinetmakers and upholsterers at London House, Aldersgate Street (1753-1826), and also at 24 Dover Street (1793-1800), London. Sons, Thomas and George, traded as ‘T. & G. SEDDON’ (1785-1805). Invoice to Charles Wren, Esq., Attorney at Law, Pilgrim Street, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, stating ‘Bought of George Seddon Cabinet Maker Aldersgate Street ... 1 2 6 Serpentine Pembroke Table … 1.10 - , 1 Damask Leather Cover 8-/1, Oval Tea Urn stand To match 1.16.-, … 1 2 Oval Caddies to match …’, 25 November 1781. (The J. Evan Bedford Library of Furniture History). Rectangular tea chest, c. 1795, with panels of yew wood edged with broad bands of satinwood; two canisters and well for sugar bowl; label in well stating ‘SEDDON’S Upholstery & Cabinet Warehouse, No. 24, DOVER STREET. Piccadilly. FUNERALS FURNISHED’. (C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, 1996, p. 404). Rectangular rosewood tea chest, c. 1825, with curvilinear sides; label on base for ‘T. & G. SEDDON, NO. 1901, LONDON HOUSE Aldersgate Street’. (L. Boynton, Country Life, 2 June 1966, p. 1400)  

SIMPSON, Michael: ‘Upholder, Sworn Appraiser and Undertaker from London At the Royal Tent on the Bridge in Leeds’. Trade card showing bombé tea chest. Advertised business in the Leeds Intelligencer, 26 January 1762. (Dr. T Friedman, Engraved Cards of Trades-men in the County of Yorkshire, Leeds Art Gallery, 1976) 

SIM[S]SON, George (& Sons): (fl. 1780-1839). Cabinetmakers and upholsterers at ‘No. 19 South-side, St Pauls Church-yard’, London. ‘Simpson & Son’ listed in directories, 1837–39. Rectangular mahogany tea chest crossbanded with tulip wood, c.1790; two canisters with crossbanding and raised-neck hinged lids, and well for sugar bowl; both wells with labels stating ‘GEORGE SIMSON, UPHOLDER, Cabinet Maker & undertaker, No. 19 South side of St Paul’s Church Yard, LONDON’. (G.E. Sworder & Sons, Essex, July 2006). Invoice for ‘fine mahogany tea chest with 2 wood Cannisters & cut glass Bason [£] 2-2 rec 30th March 1795’, headed ‘Bought of George Simson, Upholder, Cabinet-Maker & Undertaker, No.19, South-side St. Pauls Church yard’. (Private collection).  Mahogany sarcophagus tea chest, c. 1830; two canisters and well for sugar bowl; each compartment for canister labelled on base ‘SIMSON & SON, Upholsterers, Cabinet Makers, Paper Hangers and Undertakers. 19 St Paul’s Church-Yard, LONDON’. (The Country Seat. Huntercombe, Oxon, March 2004) 

SHARP, Thomas: Silversmith, clockmaker, jeweller and toy-maker in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. Sold ‘Shakespeare’ souvenirs, carved in mulberry wood from Shakespeare’s garden, including tea chests and caddies. Most output stamped with name or ‘SHAKESPEARE’S WOOD’ and name of town. Employed George Cooper as carver (c. 1762) (see entry for COOPER). Carved mulberry wood tea chest for presentation to Stratford-upon-Avon’s recorder, John Ludford, 1760. (Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon). Oval mulberry wood tea caddy, c. 1780; carved decoration of fruiting mulberry branches; silver mounts, escutcheon engraved with crest of Cunninghame-Graham family of Gartmore House, Stirling; stamped under lid ‘SHAKESPEARE WOOD SHARP STRATFORD ON AVON’. (Thomas Coulborn & Sons, Sutton Coldfield; Chapter 5: Wood …, Figure 5.129) 

SILBER & FLEMING: (fl. c. 1854-1898). Manufacturers and wholesalers of fancy goods in Cheapside, London. Fleming retired in 1886, leaving Albert Silber as sole proprietor. Large catalogue, dated 1876, listing large number of tea chests and caddies in various finishes and sizes. (Chapter 3: Making …) 

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SMEE, William (& Sons): (fl. c. 1820-70). Family of cabinetmakers and upholsterers at 5 Pavement (later re-named and numbered as No.6 Finsbury Pavement), London; also at 34 Little Moorfields (1838–40). After William Smee’s death in 1856, sons established separate businesses, W.A. & S. Smee, trading from 6 Finsbury Pavement, and John Henry Smee & Co., trading from 20 Finsbury Pavement. Catalogue of W.A. & S. Smee, Designs of Furniture, includes pages of designs for tea chests, caddies and teapoys. (The J. Evan Bedford Library of Furniture History; Chapter 5: Wood …, Figure 5.92, and Chapter 23: Teapoys …, Figure 23.24) 

SMITH, Charles Robert: Case maker at No. 8 Royal Arcade, Dublin, Ireland. Label inside trinket box, c. 1830-40, stating ‘CHARLES ROBERT SMITH. No. 8. ROYAL ARCADE. MANUFACTURER & IMPORTER OF PORTABLE DESKS, DRESSING CASES, work boxes, backgammon TABLES, Pocket Books, bagatelle Tables, TEA CHESTS & CADDIES, PORTFOLIOS &c. … DUBLIN’. (Illustrated in ‘An anthology of regional furniture with makers’ identification’, D. Jones, (ed.), The Journal of the Regional Furniture Society, Vol VII, 1993, p. 41) 

SMITH OF MAUCHLINE: (fl. c. 1821-1933). Family of Mauchline ware manufacturers in Mauchline, Ayrshire; also office and warehouse premises at Charlotte Street, and later at 28 Great Hampton Street, Birmingham (1829). Traded as ‘William & Andrew Smith’ (1821-1843), William Smith (1843-1847), Andrew Smith (1843-1849), and W. & A. Smith (Andrew and son, William) (1849-1933). From 1832 onwards, impressed many wares ‘SMITH MAUCHLINE MANUFACTURERS TO HIS MAJESTY’, regardless of date and trading name. Displayed ‘Variety of articles of Scotch fancy wood work’ at Great Exhibition, London,1851. Advertised extensively in Scottish, London and Birmingham trade directories: ‘Tea Caddies … with Scotch Joints’ in Wrightson & Webb’s The Directory of Birmingham, 1839 and ‘tea caddies’ in Wrightson & Webb’s The Directory of Birmingham, 1843, 1846. Made considerable numbers of tea caddies, many of high quality. Tartan ware tea caddy, c. 1850, covered with paper reproducing McPherson tartan; also bears retailer’s label of William Orr Stevens of Glasgow. (Private collection; Chapter 7: Mauchline ware, Figure 7.3). Transfer ware tea caddy, c. 1860; sycamore, decorated with transfer prints of scenes relating to the poet, Robert Burns. (Private collection) (Figure 7.4). Lid of tartan ware tea caddy, c. 1870; sycamore, covered with paper printed with plaid pattern; painted scene of tea processing scene on lid. (Private collection) (Figure 7.21). Oval tartan ware tea caddy, c. 1850; sycamore, covered with paper reproducing Royal Stuart tartan. (Private collection) (Figure 7.22). Sarcophagus tartan ware tea caddy, c. 1845; sycamore, covered with paper reproducing McLean tartan. (Mark Goodger Antiques, Northamptonshire) (Figure 7.23) Transfer ware tea caddy, c. 1870. Sycamore, with photograph on lid and transfer prints of views (mainly relating to Dunkeld) on front and sides. (Private collection) (Figure 7.25) Two fern ware caddies, c. 1870; sycamore, decorated with images of ferns and leaves. (Private collection) (Figure 7.31) Tartan ware tea caddy, c. 1880; sycamore, covered with paper reproducing Stuart tartan; photograph of Mossgiel Farm on lid. (In the collection of East Ayrshire Council (Burns House Museum, Mauchline) (Figure 7.32) Painted tea caddy, c. 1840; sycamore, with painted decoration. (Mark Goodger Antiques, Northamptonshire) (Figure 7.33) Amboyna-veneered tea caddy, c. 1850. (Private collection) (Figure 7.34) 

SMITH, Samuel: Listed as ‘Tortoise Shell, Pearl & Ivory Work Box, Tea Caddy &c. Manufacturer[s]’ at 35 Northwood Street, Birmingham, in Hulley’s Directory of Birmingham, 1870, and as ‘Pearl, Tortoiseshell & Ivory Wrkrs. and ornament & Caddy maker[s]’ at 15 ½ Caroline Street, Birmingham, in Birmingham Trades Directory, 1873. 

SNELL & Co.: Manufacturers at 27 Albemarle Street, London. Displayed teapoy with ‘marqueterie and metal mountings’ at Great Exhibition, London, 1851. 

SOUNDY, Benjamin: (fl. 1770-88). ‘Upholder and Cabinet-Maker in Clemens Lane, Lombard Street, London’; also at 26 Gracechurch Street (possibly same premises as above). Label on frame of embroidery panel dated 1772 stating ‘Makes & Sells all sorts of Upholsters & Cabinet Makers Work … Bedsteads & Furnitures with Windw Curtains … Looking Glasses Tables of all Sorts, tea chests, tea boards …’. (Frame in Victoria and Albert Museum, London. C. Gilbert, Pictorial Dictionary of Marked London Furniture 1700-1840, 1996) 

SPEER, George (1736-1802): Cabinet maker and upholsterer at the ‘Seven Stars, No. 2 Great Tower Street, London’. Trade card, c. 1760, includes tea chests in the list of goods made. Shared address with cousin, John Speer, and used identical design for his card. (Heal, pp. 164, 174) 

SPEER, John: Cabinetmaker, joiner and carpenter at the ‘Seven Stars, No. 2 Great Tower Street, London’, and later at ‘Ye Lion and Lamb, West side of Fleet Market, London’. Trade card, c. 1760, includes tea chests in list of goods made. Shared address with cousin, George Speer, and used identical design for his card. (Heal, pp. 164, 174) 

SPENCER, Henry (Snr): Joiner and cabinetmaker in Watton, Norfolk. Sale of stock-in-trade included ‘new and second-hand Beds … Curtains, Coverlids, Blankets … Dining, Card and Tea-Tables … Tea Chests, Bottle Sliders, Tea Boards, Tristrams &c …’, 25 March 1772. (The Journal of the Regional Furniture Society, Vol. XX, 2006) 

SPENCER, Henry (Jnr): (fl. 1773-1806). Cabinetmaker in East Dereham, Norfolk. ‘Henry Spencer, Cabinet and Chair-Maker … intends carrying on the Business the same as usual in his Father’s Life-time, which consists of Chairs of all Sorts … Tea-Chests, Tea-Boards, Tea-Trays, &c.’. (The Journal of the Regional Furniture Society, Vol. XX, 2006) 

SPENCER, Henry: Cabinetmaker, chairmaker and ‘Manufacturer’ at ‘7A Lamb’s Conduit Street, Five doors from Theobalds Road, LONDON’. Label on sarcophagus yew wood tea caddy mounted on bird’s claw-and-ball feet. (Mark Goodger Antiques, Northamptonshire; Chapter 2: Overview …, Figure 2.23) Spiers & Son were ‘Importers, Manufacturers and General Fancy Dealers’ at Nos. 102 & 103 High Street, Oxford. They were especially renowned for papier mâché wares (see Chapter 16: Papier Mâché). The shop was opened by Richard Spiers in 1835 and closed in 1889. Christopher Hibbert, Encyclopaedia of Oxford, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1988, p. 437. 

SPIERS & Son: (fl. 1834-1889). Stationers, ‘Importers, Manufacturers and General Fancy Dealers’ (retailers) at 102 and 103 High Street, and at 46, Cornmarket, Oxford; especially renowned for papier mâché wares (Chapter 16: Papier Mâché). Spiers showed such wares at the Great Exhibition, London, 1851, including a ‘Table, Screens, Cabinets, Desks, Albums, Portfolios, Work Boxes, Tea Caddies, Card Cases etc.; advertisement in The Illustrated Catalogue of the Great Exhibition, London, 1851, for ‘decorated papier mâché consisting of … Work Boxes, Tea Caddies, Card Cases, &c., ornamented with views of Oxford and its neighbourhood’. (The Art-Journal, Vol. VII, 1854). Label on base of sycamore tea caddy in shape of an apple, probably German, c. 1860, stating ‘Imported and sold by SPIERS & SON, High Street, Oxford’. (Private collection). Coromandel tea chest, c.1845, with domed lid and brass strapwork; two canisters with domed lids and brass mounts, labelled ‘Black’ and ‘Green’; brass strip on inner rear rim engraved ‘SPIERS & SONS OXFORD’. (Times Past Antiques, Okehampton, Devon, May 2007)  

SPRINGWEILER, Andrew Barnard and Co.: (fl. 1819-1839). Cabinetmaker at 2, Duke Street, West Smithfield, London. Advertised ‘Tea caddies, wholesale and for exploration, warranted to stand any climate. Royal warrant’ in Robson’s Commercial Directory of London (date unrecorded). 

STEPHENSON, Frederick: Listed as ‘Cabinet and tea chest maker’, in the records of the Sun Fire Office, 17 February 1819. (National Archives, MS11936/479/951895). 

Advertised as ‘Comb maker, and general dealer … established in 1816’ at 37, High Street, Birmingham in Wrightson & Webb’s The Directory of Birmingham, 1846. Sold ‘tortoiseshell caddies, card cases &c. &c.’. 

STEPHENSON, Robert: (fl. 1829-1865). Retailer at 25 Princes Street, Edinburgh, Scotland; Grange Villa, West Newington (home). Listed as a ‘combmaker’ at various addresses in Edinburgh in The Post Office Edinburgh Directory, 1829-58; as comb manufacturer to Her Majesty in The Post Office Edinburgh and Leith Directory, 1860-65. Large coromandel tea chest, 1862, with domed lid and gilt-metal mounts inset with Wedgwood plaques; narrow brass strip on rear inner rim engraved ‘STEPHENSON 25 PRINCES STREET EDINBURGH’. (Private collection) 

(See entry for BETJEMANN & SONS, maker of this chest, and Chapter 24: A Case Study)  

STEVENS, Joseph H.: Listed as ‘Pearl, Tortoiseshell & Ivory Wrkrs. and ornament & Caddy maker[s]’ at 8 ½ Great Hampton Row, Birmingham, in Birmingham Trades Directory, 1873. 

STIVEN, Charles: (fl. c. 1783- late 1860s). Box and Mauchline ware manufacturers in Laurencekirk, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. After death in 1821, traded as ‘C. Stiven & Sons. Granted Royal warrant in 1849, designated as ‘C. Stiven & Sons, Boxmakers to Her Majesty’. Displayed wares at Great Exhibition, London, 1851, including a ‘Tea-chest, with a view of Scone Palace’. Rectangular sycamore tea chest, c. 1800, decorated with vermiculated pattern in red ink; oval transfer print on lid; three canisters; impressed on inner rim either side of lockplate ‘C. STIVEN LAU: KIRK’. (Sotheby’s sale at Colstoun, Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland). Rectangular sycamore tea chest, c. 1830, with black pen-and-ink views of Scottish houses and castles on all surfaces; three canisters with lids with similar views; impressed ‘C. STIVEN    LAU: KIRK’. (Bearne’s Fine Art Auctioneers, Exeter; Chapter 7: Mauchline, Figure 7.12). Tartan ware tea caddy, c. 1840, covered with paper reproducing McPherson tartan; lid with painting of Fasque, Fettercairn, Kircardinshire; two compartments; impressed on inner rim either side of lockplate ‘C. STIVEN LAU: KIRK’. (Figure 7.19). Rectangular sycamore tea caddy, c. 1860, with painted views of Scottish houses; impressed on inner rim either side of lockplate, left, with Royal coat-of-arms and ‘C. STIVEN & SONS’, and right, ‘BOX MAKERS TO HER MAJESTY’ to right. (Private collection) (Figure 7.30). 

STOCKEN, L. & Co.: Listed as ‘Stationer & Dressing Case Maker’ at 53 Quadrant, Regent Street, London, in Kelly’s Post Office Directory, 1837. Rectangular maple tea chest, c. 1860, with brass strapwork mounts; two canisters and cut-glass sugar bowl; engraved on brass strip on inner rear rim ‘Stocken & Company, Makers, 53 Quadrant’. (Christie’s, South Kensington, London, February 2001, Lot 533)  

STONES, Joseph: (fl. 1820-30). Cabinet- and case maker in Hartshead, Sheffield. Trade card stating ‘JOSEPH STONES HARTSHEAD, SHEFFIELD Manufacturer of Portable Writing & TRAVELLING DESKS Gentlemens Dressing Cases, Tea Caddies & Chests, la Bagatelle Board…’. (The J. Evan Bedford Library of Furniture History).  

SUTCLIFFE, H.: Metalware manufacturers at 40 & 51 Thomas Street, Manchester. Pair of mother-of-pearl inlaid black, gilt and polychrome japanned tinplate shop tea canisters impressed ‘H. SUTCLIFFE … MAKER MANCHESTER’. (Christie’s, New York, 27 October 2006). Set of eight canisters impressed with above address. (Christie’s, South Kensington, Christopher Wray Collection, London, 6 July 2005)  

STRICKLAND & RICHARDSON: Japanners at St John’s Street, Smithfield, London. Advertisement for sale of stock-in-trade offered ‘a very large assortment of paper and iron waiters, japanned and finished with beautiful painted and Chinese centers [sic] and rich gold borders; … tea and coffee pots, [tea] cannisters, snuffers trays, … and various other articles of japan ware, executed in the first stile [sic] of workmanship, and in the latest fashionable patterns’, The Times, 3 May 1800.  

STURGES, Richard Ford: (fl. 1840-1859). Britannia metal (pewter) manufacturer in Birmingham. Listed as a ‘Manufacturer of patent seamless tea and coffee sets, damask and plain Britannia metal, british plate, electro and magneto plated and silver wares’ in White’s Directory & Gazetteer of Birmingham, 1849. Britannia metal tea caddy, c. 1855-60, with embossed ‘damask’ decoration; cap lid; base impressed ‘R.F. STURGES PATENT’. (Private collection; Chapter 18: Pewter …, Figure 18.14)