George II Silver Tea Caddy by Samuel Taylor (1759)

• Finial - An architectural decoration, found on the upper parts of of an object. On furniture they are usually found on pediments, canopies and shelf supports. On smaller ceramic or silver items, such as spoons, they may decorate the top of the item itself, or the lid or cover where they provide a useful handle for removal.
  
  Finials have a variety of shapes and forms. They may be urn-shaped, baluster shaped round or spiral, but usually taper into an upper point. Many real life shapes may also be used as finials, such as pineapples, berries, pinecones, buds, lotus and acorns. Sometimes animals such as a lion are depicted, or fish and dolphins.
• George Ii - George II (1683 - 1760) was King of Great Britain and Ireland from 1727 until his death in 1760.
• Embossed / Repousse - Embossing, also known as repousse, is the technique of decorating metal with raised designs, by pressing or beating out the design from the reverse side of the object.It is the opposite of chasing, where the decoration is applied from the front. An embossed or repoussed object may have chasing applied to finish off the design.
• Wrythen - A spirally twisted ornamentation most commonly found on antique glass, silver, ceramics and furniture.

This item has been included into following indexes:

• tea caddies, material - silver and silver plate 243
• tea caddies, period or age - Georgian 320