A large copper and brass tea caddy made by the Newton School of Metal Workers from a design attributed to John Williams, circa 1900.

This particular design appears in the Newton School design archive . The hand drawn, and painted, design is unsigned but from the style and hand written annotations it can be attributed to John Williams.

This piece is a great example of why Newton School metalwork has been hard to identify over the years. This particularly piece has a number of design characteristics which would typically be attributed to other well known Guilds or Classes. The shape of the caddy and the decorative side seam are very reminiscent of designs by the Newlyn Industrial Class. The brass lid handle looks very like handle designs by the Birmingham Guild of Handicraft.

This piece is beautifully made with the slight planishing and use of copper rivets that you would expect from a piece from this period. The copper is a good gauge and lid fits extremely well. The inside of the box is tinned which makes me think it is definitely a large tea caddy.