Lot 403 D‡α

Masterpieces in Miniature
The Boxes of Abraham and David Roentgen

The production of caskets had probably formed a part of Abraham Roentgen's daily work since the foundation of the Herrnhaag workshop in 1742. He had become acquainted with this type of casket, elegantly veneered with precious woods, on his travels to the Netherlands and London. The English used similar containers that were galvanised on the inside and could be locked to store the expensive tea imported from India and China. They were called caddy sets, a word derived from the Chinese unit of measurement "kati". Abraham Roentgen modified the appearance and function of the colonial tea caddy and thus created a unique and eye-catching style even in his smallest product.



Millimetre-thick, precisely positioned strips of veneer were applied to a cherrywood or oak corpus. Brass stringing accentuated the outlines, gilded bronze feet and refined inlays enhanced the impression of the miniature masterpieces. The shallow side drawers in the base, which pop out at the push of an inner button, became something of a trademark, as did the small square doors in the lockplates, which pop open by means of a push button in the base and release the lock to insert the key. Produced in series, each one had an individual feature such as the small, finely engraved brass cartouche on the lid. The caskets were offered in several sizes and were not intended exclusively for tea, but could be used to store anything of value.

Around 100 of these precious boxes are still preserved today, most of them small tea chests. Until the Hamburg lottery in 1769, their purchase was reserved exclusively for Abraham Roentgen's most noble clientèle. It was not until the tea tax began to be levied in the late 1760s and tastes gradually changed towards Classicism that demand for these elaborate caskets fell.