Tea chest ca. 1750–55 Abraham Roentgen German Beginning in 1742, when he started to work, Abraham Roentgen impressed the small princely courts and the landed gentry around Herrnhaag, as well as the rich patricians in nearby Frankfurt, with his brass-inlaid tea tables, gueridons, chairs, and tea chests in the "English Manner" (see fig. 3, p. 5).[1] Furniture of such high quality and so inventive in its design and execution was a novelty, and the demand for such objects increased rapidly.[2] One of Abrahams’ first tea chests was made in Herrnhaag for the princely house of Isenburg-Birstein. The

Tea chest ca. 1750–55 Abraham Roentgen German Beginning in 1742, when he started to work, Abraham Roentgen impressed the small princely courts and the landed gentry around Herrnhaag, as well as the rich patricians in nearby Frankfurt, with his brass-inlaid tea tables, gueridons, chairs, and tea chests in the "English Manner" (see fig. 3, p. 5).[1] Furniture of such high quality and so inventive in its design and execution was a novelty, and the demand for such objects increased rapidly.[2] One of Abrahams’ first tea chests was made in Herrnhaag for the princely house of Isenburg-Birstein. The appearance of that luxurious object in the prince’s drawing room would have informed his guests that he and his family were familiar with the latest fashions and social pastimes.[3]The interior of the present example is partitioned to hold a pair of caddies for black and green tea. Between those spaces was a lidded box where sugar (or candies) could be stored or where tea leaves could be mixed. The arrangement would be repeated with many variations in the following decades. Almost all the details are typical of Abraham’s workshop products. They include English brass mounts, such as the handle and bracket feet, which could be bought from the metalwork pattern books and sales catalogues or Birmingham foundries[4], and a spring-operated secret drawer, which in this case occupies the base of the chest and opens from the right side when a button on top of the side panel (hidden when the lid is closed) is pushed. The overall design and decoration of the chest, however, is taken to an unusually high level.[5] The lid’s dramatic silhouette, undulating in the manner of a pagoda roof, alludes to the East Asian origin of tea, and the corners are emphasized by suave brass moldings ending in tongue motifs at the base. A brass cartouche engraved with rocaille and flora decoration is inlaid in the front, and a keyhole is hidden behind a small door that springs open at the touch of a

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