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List of Makers and Retailers

WAGNER & COTTRELL, (formerly A. Lambley & Co.): Cabinet- and case makers at 9 Ann Street (1818-22), 14 Ann Street (1828-30), Paradise Street (1835-39), Birmingham. ‘Tea chests, caddees …’ listed in Wrightson’s New Triennial Directory of Birmingham, 1821.   

WALKER AND BECK: (fl. 1780-1804). Listed as ‘ironmongers’ at 46 Fish Street Hill, London, in Wakefield's Merchant and Tradesman's General Directory for London, 1794. Account books of London wholesale merchant, James Douglas, record exportation to North American merchants of tea chests made by Walker & Beck between 1784 and1792. (Information from John Fleming and Hugh Honour, The Penguin Dictionary of Decorative Arts, Allen Lane, London, 1977, p. 95) 

WALKER, James: Listed as ‘Pearl, Tortoiseshell & Ivory Wrkrs. and ornament & Caddy maker[s]’ in Vyse Street, Birmingham, in Birmingham Trades Directory, 1873. 

WARD, John: Listed as ‘Pearl, Tortoiseshell & Ivory Wrkrs. and ornament & Caddy maker[s]’ at 250 Icknield Street E, Birmingham, in Birmingham Trades Directory, 1873. 

WATERMAN, Thomas (& Son): (fl. c. 1851-63). Tunbridge ware manufacturer at Grafton House, The Parade, (1851-1859), and at Mount Pleasant Terrace, High Street, (1859-1863), Tunbridge Wells. Rosewood tea caddy, c. 1855, with band of tessellated mosaic around sides and perspective cube work on lid; label on base stating ‘MANUFACTURED BY T. WATERMAN & SON. GRAFTON HOUSE, Parade, Tunbridge Wells’. Other similarly decorated single- and double-compartment caddies are known. (Private collection) 

WATSON, Charles: ‘Jeweller, Silversmith … and General Furnishing Hardwareman’ at 41 and 42 Barbican, and 16 Norton Folgate, Bishopsgate, London. Advertised papier mâché tea caddies, amongst many other goods, in Hunt’s Oxford Directory, 1846. 

WATSON & WILLIAMS: Retailers at 46 Cornhill, London. Coromandel caddy, c. 1860, with domed lid ornamented with brass strapwork; ivory strip on inner rear rim engraved ‘WATSON & WILLIAMS, 46 CORNHILL, LONDON’; interior compartments marked ‘GREEN TEA’ and ‘BLACK TEA’. (ebay, December 2007) 

WETHERSTONE, Alexander: ‘Carpenter, Joyner and Turner, at ye Painted Floor Cloth & Brush in Portugal Street, Near Lincolns Inn Back Gate’, London. Trade card, c. 1760-65, includes tea chests amongst long list of articles for sale. (Heal, pp. 192, 198) 

WIDGER: Cabinetmaker in Plymouth. Octagonal mahogany teapoy, c. 1840, on turned column with four carved legs; two oval canisters and two cut-glass bowls; label stating ‘WIDGER MAKER PLYMOUTH’. (Tim Saltwell, Fine Antique Furniture)  

WILKINSON & Son: Family of cabinetmakers (first established 1766); Charles Wilkinson moved firm trading as W. & C. Wilkinson to 8, Old Bond Street, London, in 1855. Walnut teapoy, c.1855-1860, with fluted pillar on tripartite base; two oval canisters and two wells lined with blue velvet for sugar bowls; stamped on inner rim of chest ‘WILKINSON & SON 11206. 8, OLD BOND STREET’. (Sally Turner Antiques, Wendover, Buckinghamshire, June 1999) 

WILKS, J.S.: Listed as ‘cabinet case maker, perfumer and importer of foreign toys &c. (wholesale and retail)’ at 16 Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland, in The Dublin Almanac and General Register of Ireland, 1847. Also recorded at 19 Patrick Street, Limerick, and at 138, 143, 431 Strand, London. Advertised ‘Tea Chests’ in Slater’s Directory of Ireland, 1846.  

WILKINSON, Edward: (fl. 1766-1798). Cabinetmaker and upholsterer in Peterborough. Advertised ‘… Dining, Tea, Pembroke, and Dressing Tables; Night Tables; Bason Stands; Knife Cases; Dinner Trays, Tea Boards, Caddies etc, and many other articles …’ in The Lincoln, Rutland and Stamford Mercury, 2 April 1790. (DEFM) 

WILLIAMS, John: Listed as ‘Pearl, Tortoiseshell & Ivory Wrkrs. and ornament & Caddy maker[s]’ at 10 New Summer Street, Birmingham, in Birmingham Trades Directory, 1873. 

WILSON, William (& Co.): (est. 1817). Cabinet- and case makers at 71 George Street, Edinburgh, Scotland. Mahogany sarcophagus chest mounted on bun feet, with turned wooden handles at sides; label on base stating ‘WILSON & Co. Late Wm Wilson Established 1817. 71 George Street, EDINBURGH Manufacturers of Dressing Writing & Jewel Cases. Work Boxes. Desks Pocket Books & all Fancy Wood Shell & Leather Goods’. (Journal of the Regional Furniture Society, Vol. VII, 1993, p. 40). Advertised tea caddies, among many other items, in Gray’s Annual Directory for Edinburgh and Leith, 1834-1835, and 18345-1846; advertised ‘Dressing Cases, White boxes, Writing cases, Tea caddies, Dispatch boxes…’ in the Post Office Directory for Edinburgh and Leith, 1849, 1855-1856, 1860-1865. 

WILSON & AMPHLET (formerly Davidson, Wilson & Amphlet): (fl. 1865-85). Mauchline ware manufacturers in Mauchline, Ayrshire, Scotland. Rectangular sycamore tea caddy, c, 1880, with coloured transfer prints of seaweed on front and rear, and black transfer print of the Asylum, Denbigh, North Wales, on lid; tinfoil on underside of lid impressed ‘Wilson & Amphlet Mauchline’. (Private collection; Chapter 7: Mauchline ware, Figure 7.28)  

WINN, Robert: (fl. 1808-1847). Japanned metal and papier mâché manufacturer in Singers Hill, Suffolk Street, and at 25 Henrietta Street, Birmingham; also recorded at 103 & 104 Constitution Hill. Advertised ‘Tea chests & caddies’ in Wrightson & Webb’s The Directory of Birmingham, 1833, and ‘Tea Chests, Caddies …’ in Robson’s Birmingham & Sheffield Directory, 1839.  

WISE, Abraham: Listed as manufacturer of tortoiseshell and pearl boxes, tea caddies etc. at 12 Summer Street, Navigation Street, Birmingham, in Morris & Co.’s Commercial Directory & Gazetteer of Warwickshire with Birmingham, 1866; as ‘Tortoise Shell, Pearl & Ivory Work Box, Tea Caddy &c. Manufacturer[s]’ at 38A Darwin Street, Birmingham, in Hulley’s Directory of Birmingham, 1870, and as ‘Pearl, Tortoiseshell & Ivory Wrkrs. and ornament & Caddy maker[s]’ at 12 Mott Street, Birmingham, in Birmingham Trades Directory, 1873. 

WISE: Family of chair-, box- and Tunbridge ware makers (also publishers and printsellers) in High Street, Tonbridge; George (1746-1784); Thomas (1784-1806); George Snr (1806-1869); George Jnr (1862-c. 1876). Also showrooms at 11 Calverley Promenade, Tunbridge Wells (1832 onwards). As ‘G. Wise & Co.’, advertised ‘Tea Chests and Caddies, Work Boxes, Writing Desks, Netting, Card, Glove and other Boxes’. (Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery; Chapter 6: Tunbridge Ware, Figure 6.29). Tunbridge ware whitewood tea caddy, c. 1820, attributed to Wise; penwork decoration; brass ball feet; two compartments with large single lid. (Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery) (Figure 6.13). Figure 6.30: Tunbridge ware tea chest, c. 1835, attributed to Wise; rosewood, with tessellated mosaic view of the State Apartments, Windsor Castle, and mosaic borders on lid; sides with floral and geometric bandings; rosewood bun feet; two wooden canisters with mosaic-decorated lids, and moulded glass sugar bowl. (Tunbridge Wells Museum & Art Gallery)  

WOODHOUSE, Humphrey: Manufacturer of articles in ‘Tortoiseshell, Turtleshell and Ivory’ at 11 Bennett’s Place, Exeter Row, 117 Great Charles Street, Birmingham. Advertised ‘Tea caddees’ and tea chests in Ward & Price’s New Birmingham Directory, 1823, (The J. Evan Bedford Library of Furniture History; Chapter 11: Tortoiseshell, Figure 11.15), and Wrightson’s Triennial Directory of Birmingham, 1825. Listed under ‘Tortoiseshell and Ivory Box, Caddee, &c. Makers’ in Wrightson’s Triennial Directory of Birmingham, 1823; listed at Smallbrook Street as ‘Ivory box case & caddee maker’ in Wrightson’s Annual Directory of Birmingham, 1829-30; at 33 ½ Church Street in Wrightson’s The Directory of Birmingham, 1833; at 117 Great Charles Street in The History and General Directory of the Borough of Birmingham … Parish of Aston, The Soho and Part of Handsworth, 1849.  

WOOLFIELD, Samuel: (fl.1823-1835). Listed as ‘Manufacturer of tea chests & caddees’ at 28 Ludgate Hill, Edgbaston, in Wrightson’s Annual Directory of Birmingham, 1829-30, and of ‘Tea caddees’ at No.1, No. 8, Bath Row, Holloway Head, Birmingham, in The Directory of Birmingham, 1833. Full page advertisement stating ‘S. WOOLFIELD, MANUFACTURER OF Portable Writing Desks ELEGANTLY INLAID IN ROSEWOOD OR MAHOGANY PLAIN & CLIP’d, LADIES & GENTLEMENS TOILET JEWELLERY & DRESSING CASES CONVENIENTLY FITTED UP, LADIES ROSEWOOD AND FANCY LEATHER Work Boxes, Tea Chests & Caddies …’ etc. in Wrightson’s The Directory of Birmingham, 1835. 

WOODFIELD, S: Retailers, goldsmiths and jewellers at Nos. 2 & 4 Exchange Square, and later recorded at Nos. 28 and 143 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Scotland. Advertised their ‘Emporium for Alabaster Vases, Clocks, Superb Bronzes…’ etc. in Pigot’s Directory of Scotland, 1837, and in Slater’s Directory of Ireland, 1846; claimed to specialise in ‘Scottish Clan Tartans, or Scotch Views’ and advertised tea caddies in stock in Menzies Tourist Pocket Guide for Scotland, 1852. Coromandel tea chest, c. 1860, with brass mounts; two canisters, one with label stating ‘S. WOOLFIELD & Co., Jewellers. Dressing case makers &c. … 143 Buchanan Street, Corner of St Vincent Street, GLASGOW’. 

WOOLFIELD, Thomas and John: (fl. 1827-1828). Cabinet- and case makers at 69 Church Street, Liverpool. Advertised their ‘Fancy Bazar’, selling ‘Ladies & Gentlemen’s Portable Desks, Dressing Cases, Work Boxes, Bagatelle and Backgammon boards, Tea Chests &c.’ in the Liverpool Mercury, 8 February 1828, 9 May 1828, 4 July 1828, and 22 August 1828. 

WRIGHT, Alexander Peter: Cabinetmaker ‘Opp Old Assembly close foot, Cowgate’, Edinburgh, Scotland. Advertisement stating ‘ALEXANDER PETER WRIGHT At his cabinet warehouse, opposite to the Old Assembly close foot, in Cowgate Edinburgh, hath a large assortment of household furniture ready made, in mahogany, walnut tree … and other woods. Among which are the following goods, viz. Tea, card, dressing and night tables, of various sorts and sizes Tea boards and Tea treas …  Cloaths chests, charter-chests, and tea chests …’ in the Edinburgh Chronicle, 23 January 1760.  

WRIGHT (Richard) & ELWICK (Edward): (fl. 1748-1771). Trade card stating ‘Wright & Elwick Upholders from London. At the Glass & Cabinet Ware House in Northgate Wakefield’ (at that address October 1769 to October 1770). Supplied Charles Ingram of Temple Newsam House, Leeds, with a ‘Mahogany Tea chest small with Trunk Top lead’d with a lead weight to prop and a Brass Ticket’, and a tea chest, lamp brackets, dressing glasses and a mahogany suite composed of six back stools, two elbow chairs and a sofa with loose checked cases at cost of £129-5-8. (C. Gilbert, ‘Wright & Elwick of Wakefield, 1748-1822: A study of provincial patronage’, Furniture History Society Journal, Vol. III, 1967, pp. 35-36)  

WYRILL, William: Retailer, ‘General & Furnishing Ironmonger’ with ‘EMPORIUM FOR THE MANUFACTURES OF LONDON, SHEFFIELD AND BIRMINGHAM’ at 137 Westgate, Bradford. Advertised ladies’ and gentlemens’ dressing cases ‘in Fancy Wood’ and ‘tortoiseshell tea caddies’ and workboxes and [wooden] tea caddies in Pigot & Co.’s Directory of Birmingham, 1841, and ‘Stove grate, fender & cutlery … bells hung on the most improved principle … papier mâché … tortoiseshell tea caddies … Smith’s Scotch snuff boxes … &c.’ in Wrightson’s The Directory of Birmingham, 1842-3.