What Is a Tea Chest?
A tea chest is a small, decorative, polished wooden box with a hinged lid, holding an assortment of teas, either neatly arranged tea bags, or small metal canisters or "sniffing tins" of loose tea. Formerly, a tea chest was also the wooden crate in which loose tea was shipped. Does this Spark an idea?
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Tea as a Luxury
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Tea first became popular in Europe in the mid- and late 17th century. Before that, Europeans drank wine or beer. Acquaintance with Chinese tea was a product of the age of exploration and colonization. Chinese merchants exported tea to Java, and Dutch ships were the first to bring it to Europe. Tea also made its way overland to Russia by camel caravans. Originally, throughout Europe, tea was an expensive luxury.
Shipping Tea
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Tea leaves are apt to turn stale fairly quickly, and they will molder in damp air. Because of this, the tea chests used in ocean shipping were small and solidly made, and the journey from China to European and later American markets was done as fast as possible. The legendary clipper ships of the 19th century, the fastest ships afloat before steam power, were specifically designed to expedite the tea trade. Even in the late 19th century, merchants still tried overland routes--even across the United States from China to Europe--in the hopes this would bring tea to the customer faster than the sea route across the Indian Ocean and through the Suez Canal.
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Storing Tea at Home
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The tea chests in which families kept their own stash at home reflect tea's original status as a perishable luxury item. They were small and, significantly, could always be locked. The chests were divided into compartments for various loose teas or held canisters of loose tea. Commonly, a tea chest also had a compartment for sugar. These small chests were also called tea caddies, from the Malay word "kati," a measurement of weight of about a pound.
Tea Chest Design
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Private home tea chests were made of pewter, brass, copper or silver, or fine woods such as mahogany or rosewood. If made of wood, the chest's compartments were still lined in metal. The chests often were of lovely designs, and they were not necessarily boxes but could be octagonal or pear-shaped urns that were carved, inlaid with other materials, or painted.
Tea Chests Today
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Most tea chests today are simple boxes lacking compartments, which are no longer needed because tea bags keep tea tidy. Tea chests are a thoughtful and unusual gift item for the hobbyist instead of the elegant but well-used household conveniences they once were. One tea shipping chest, lidless and water damaged, still survives from the Boston Tea Party. It's called the Robinson Half Chest, and it is displayed at the Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum in Boston.
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