It always seems a pity that the tea kettle is no longer required in the making of tea, and indeed has not been for generations since it was succeeded by the tea urn during the last 25 years or so of the eighteenth century, for it was among the most magnificent of all rococo domestic silver. Its introduction was born of the necessity for a constant supply of hot water to replenish the tiny Queen Anne teapots already discussed. The brewing of tea was a fashionable ritual in those distant days, the mistress of the house attending to it herself usually in the drawing roomor salon.

Early tea kettles were extremely plain and homely vessels, and their. rotund shape was similar to that of the pear-shaped teapot. Likewise their spouts were of the swan-neck variety, and their lids usually topped with a wooden knop. Handles were of the swing type with wooden grips, but these varied. The flat base of the tea kettle stood upon a plain or pierced ring incorporated, with a spirit lamp, in the accompanying three-legged stand. From the legs rose a horizontal curved framework which contained the small ring for the lamp. Attached to each side of the stand there might be a pair of handles so that, once the kettle had been filled, the whole apparatus could be carried by a servant into the drawing room or boudoir for the lady of the house to infuse the precious leaves.

Antique Collector MagazineDuring successive years the shapes and styles of the kettle mirrored those of the teapot, sometimes being identical except for capacity, in which case the swing handle might be replaced by the vertical scroll-shaped type which was then popular on teapots. Occasionally the shining silver tea kettle occupied a place of particular splendour upon its own silver tripod table which stood about 30 inches high.

By about the 1730s the globular teapot was joined by a globular-shaped tea kettle, and at this time the homely kettle began to appear in a more glamorous form, its contours becoming embossed with ornament also chased in high relief typical of rococo decoration, incorporating foliate and flower sprays, shells, scrolls, sometimes Oriental figures and cherubs, with the now-familiar figure of the Chinaman often taking up residence on the summit of the ornate lid. The sides of swing handles had become elaborately scrolled and the curving handle-grip covered with cane or leather. Likewise the stand was often a splendid piece of fantasy, at its more restrained incorporating cherubs’ heads and scrolls, and at its most opulent perhaps designed around figures of a sea god and marine mythology.

The splendour increased and the tea kettle became positively encrusted with ornament, although its expense and decoration belied the fact that it was often produced from thinly-rolled silver made possible by the new rolling-mill. Produced concurrently with these magnificent pieces were also kettles of less pretentious appearance, which were therefore less expensive since they could be made in a shorter time. By the 1740s the silver kettle might also assume an inverted-pear shape, with the body decorated in the usual rococo manner.

Its popularity in one form or another was maintained for the next 15 to 20 years, until it was joined by a new design which sounded the death knell for the tea kettle. The usurper was a utilitarian vessel with a far bigger capacity than the kettle, the top of which was narrower than the wide base, with the sides sloping gently outwards. This vessel was equipped with the usual cane-covered handle but, instead of a spout, incorporated a long horizontal tap near its base. This was far more practical when larger quantities of water were required because it eliminated the tilting of the kettle for pouring. This redesigned kettle superseded the usual form and, since it was halfway to the shape and principle of the tea urn, was itself shortly eclipsed by this vessel.

Tea urns

Despite its size, the large, capacious tea urn was generally an elegant apparatus. Emerging as it did during the neo-classical period, it was usually based on the vase shape in one form or another, and stood upon a graceful stemmed foot, the end of the tap often delightfully cast and chased as an animal or bird. There were two main methods of keeping the water hot, apart from the lamp-heated urn which is believed to have been used for drawing off tea into cups and not for simply heating the water. One method used a red-hot cylindrical box-iron, inserted into a socket inside the urn, around which the water circulated to retain heat; the other involved the use of charcoal inserted into a perforated container at the base, from which hot air rose through a tube inside the urn, and came out through the finial.

Certain earlier urns had squat, pear-shaped bodies, perhaps embossed with scrolls and incorporating an ornamental cartouche for the owner’s crest. Scroll handles completed the style, the moulded silver spouts being similarly decorated. A ball-shaped urn appeared towards the final years of the eighteenth century, being generally either plain or fluted. During the last ten years or so a machine-like specimen appeared, known as the tea and coffee machine, which was made more commonly in Sheffield plate. It comprised separate tea, coffee and water containers and sometimes a slop basin. The water container, in reality a central urn for hot water, was roughly twice the capacity of the tea and coffee containers situated on either side of it. The hot water urn swivelled to each side so that the two smaller vessels could be replenished without being moved. Each urn or container was separately portable, but the three were based upon a tray or platform standing upon four feet. Tea urns made during the nineteenth century followed the general tendency of diversity in design and ornament.

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