During the middle to later nineteenth century demand for manufactured biscuits soared and alongside this increased demand for decorative containers to place these new style biscuits became popular.
By the late 1860s these new style containers started to become a feature of the tea equipage .These new style biscuit boxes served a double purpose not only were they a stylish and smart way to serve biscuits but they helped to keep the biscuits fresh .The biscuit box was regarded in the nineteenth century as a somewhat ‘Bourgeois’ item as the upper classes were still served biscuits and cakes by servants who prepared everything in the kitchens and then brought it out to serve from a silver basket with a swing handle. This is almost certainly the reason that they are more commonly encountered in silver plate rather than solid silver as they were catering in general for a slightly less wealthy clientele.
Biscuit boxes can be found in a large variety of styles from the very plain to the most exotically decorated. Some were made in a folding variety like a satchel, some in barrel form and some were enlarged versions of the earlier late eighteenth century tea caddy forms. Some were made in porcelain, stoneware and wood and then mounted with a silver plate or solid silver rim and handle.
At William Walter Antiques we usually have a fine selection of biscuit boxes for sale both in silver and silver plate in a variety of shapes and styles.
