Collection: Tea Caddies

In Japan, tea is kept away from air, light and moisture, which quickly dull its aroma. The tea caddy, sitting next to the teapot, is an everyday object, chosen as much for its decoration as for its purpose.

Most of our caddies are made of tinplate and come from the Shizuoka region, one of Japan's major green tea regions. They have an inner lid in addition to the outer lid, which helps protect the tea better once the caddy is closed.

Two kinds of decoration share the collection. Some caddies are printed directly on the metal, with glossy, matte or gold finishes. Others are wrapped in washi, traditional Japanese paper, whose light texture you can feel under your fingers.

The motifs draw on Japanese imagery: Mount Fuji, cherry and plum blossoms, camellias, seigaiha waves, asanoha stars, fans, as well as daruma and maneki neko, the Japanese lucky charms.

Sizes range from mini tins for a tea to try to caddies of about 100 to 200 g for loose green tea, sencha, hojicha or black tea. Some are sold as a set of two, a lovely gift idea for tea lovers.

To care for them, a soft dry cloth is enough, especially for the washi models. Avoid immersing them in water.