Teapoy
Type of table
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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
