A teapoy is an item of furniture. The word is of Indian origin, and was originally used to describe a three-legged table, literally meaning "three feet" in Hindi.[1][2]
By erroneous association with the word "tea"[1] in the middle of the 19th century,[3] it is also used to describe a table with a container for tea, or a table for holding a tea service. In the 19th century, the word was also sometimes applied to a large porcelain or earthenware tea caddy, and more frequently to the small bottles, often of enamel, which fitted into receptacles in the caddy and actually contained the tea.[4]
Teapoys were small three-legged tables with a tabletop turning into a shallow box by 1820s that turned into a tea chest by the middle of the 19th century, at the same time woods (rosewood, mahogany, walnut) were supplemented by the papier-mâché, resulting in highly decorative designs with inlays of ivory and mother-of-pearl.[5]
See also
- Charpoy, a bed with four legs
- Coffee table
References
- 1 2 OED, teapoy, etymology: from Hindi tīn three + Persian. pāï foot.
- ↑ Gloag & Edwards 1991, p. 664.
- ↑ Gloag & Edwards 1991, p. 665.
- ↑ One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tea-poy". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 486.
- ↑ Gloag & Edwards 1991, pp. 664–666.
Sources
- Gloag, John; Edwards, Clive (1991). "Teapoy". A Complete Dictionary of Furniture. Overlook Press. pp. 664–666. ISBN 978-0-87951-414-3. OCLC 1063834296.