COTTAGE ORNAMENTS 



137 



these, four shapes arc shown, the oldest being the one to 

 the left. The three pretty little brass spoons of tea-spoon 

 size were also from a cottage. 



The quite old cottages were innocent of inkstands, but 

 there was an inkpot of some kind in the farm, always 

 with its accompanying sand-box. 



Various kinds of pretty boxes were in use ; — work- 



Pepper-Pots 



boxes, first of plain oak with a top tray for needles, thread, 

 thimble, &c, and later, boxes of mahogany and rosewood, 

 often inlaid with ' strings ' of brass. 



Tea-caddies were of good and often of graceful shape, 



with well-designed brass mounts, and ball or lion's-paw 



feet. When one considers the mass of rubbish of atrocious 



design that would have to be encountered if one tried to 



buy such an article now, one thinks with retrospective 



pleasure how easy it was to get a good thing a hundred 



years ago ; when, if you asked for a tea-caddy, you would 



be offered such a one as the satin-wood box on the left 



s 



