An 18th Century Continental Antique Copper Side-Handled Coffee Pot

This is a handsome and honestly made coffee pot, or cafetière à manche, of the form that graced the kitchens and hearths of France and the Low Countries in the age when coffee drinking first became a domestic ritual.

The tall, gently tapering cylindrical body is hand-raised, and its surface still shows the soft facets of the planishing hammer. It is closed by a dovetailed and brazed side seam, and its base is let in with a cramped joint. Both are hallmarks of the coppersmith's craft before rolled sheet and soldered seams took over in the following century.

A slender swan-neck spout, originally seamed by hand, sweeps up from low on the body. The domed cover rides on a hand-made hinge and is surmounted by a cast brass finial riveted through. The turned wooden handle projects at right angles to the spout from a tubular copper socket. It is set this way so that the pot could be lifted straight from the hearth and poured in a single movement, which is the defining feature of the Continental side-handled pot and quite distinct from the rear-handled English form. Hand-forged rivets and pins are used throughout.

The copper has a deep, warm patina, and generations of hands have polished the handle. It is a rare survival of an everyday object, carrying the quiet authority of 18th-century domestic metalwork.

Provenance: France. 18th century.

Material: Copper, brass, and a turned wooden handle.

Condition: There are minor dents and surface scratches consistent with considerable age and use. The copper has been polished. The wooden handle shows wear, old marks, and an age-related split, but it is stable. Remnants of early hand-wiped tinning survive inside, and later, old solder repairs are visible on the outside. This vessel is not suitable for culinary use.

Dimensions: Height including brass finial: 20 cm (7.9 in) x Max width including handle: 28 cm (11 cm)