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JANUARY 2015 53
U
ntil a few decades ago, tea was packed and
transported in square boxes of varying size.They
were made of plywood sheets held together by
metal edges riveted to the sheets with nails.The number
of nails was always the same in boxes of the same size. In
fact, the ‘box mistry’ became expert at spacing the nails
and hammering them in without having to resort to a
measuring tape.The chests were lined with metal foil and,
depending on the size, each box could hold between 42
and 58 kg of tea. Since there was no lid, one simply
removed one of the sides – usually, the top.
The earliest use of tea chests was by the British East India
Company, to ship tea in bulk from China and India in
the late seventeenth century.The design and weight of tea
chests were standardized as was the design of the holds
of the ships that carried them, so that the maximum
amount of tea could be fitted into each cargo.
At first, the company used the large, strong, slow ships
known as East Indiamen, which could carry 1,200 tons
of cargo. Each trip from the Orient to the London docks
took a year if the weather remained fair, but could take
much longer if the conditions were unfavourable. Then
came the Clippers, sleeker and faster ships that carried
less tea in their holds but travelled faster, so the teas
arrived in London that much fresher. The last surviving
Clipper, one of the fastest and most famous in her time,
the Cutty Sark, is on display in Greenwich, London.The
famous ship has been elevated so that the visitors can see
it from underneath as well as climb aboard and explore
the hold where the tea chests were stored on those epic
voyages.
Over the years, thousands of tea chests have made their
way from India and China to England and other parts of
the world where people found many innovative ways of
reusing them in their original or recycled form.
Some chests were used in their original form for storage.
Others were reinforced with a lid and handles, and even
wheels, and beautified before being used for the same
purpose.
Some tea chests were dismantled and the sides polished
and used to panel walls or the front of cupboards. They
were even used as table tops. Sometimes one comes across
old tea chests inscribed with our Company’s logo and the
name of one of its estates, in unexpected places! I found
the name ‘Attabarie’ on a panel of the Tea Leaf outlet in
Terminal 7 of Los Angeles airport!
Ye Olde Tea Chest
~ Sarita Dasgupta
52 JANUARY 2015
Model of a Clipper’s Hold
Tea Chests – MRIL Estates
The Cutty Sark
‘Attabarie’ at
Los Angeles Airport!
Tea Chest Furniture
“
The challenge of history is to recover the past and
introduce it to the present.
”
~ David Thelen