I was on the look-out for a kettle with as much ‘character’ (dents!) as my Hjorth Caesar No.2 wick stove (HERE and HERE) to pair with the stove. I found one to suit, not as old as the stove, (by about thirty years) but given the rough handling it’s had yet remains water-tight and rather handsome (!) it’s a fitting partner to the stove. A bonus to make the most of the wick stove’s leisurely output is the kettle’s ‘quick-boil’ credentials, utilising a shrouded base and thick coils of copper wire. ‘Warranted solid copper’ is the proud inscription and weighing in at 2-and-a-1/2 pounds (1.1 kilograms), it’s no idle boast. No maker’s name, but this inscription is very helpful. The patent focuses on the design of the lid, with a row of holes around half of the lid to vent steam and prevent boiling over, something the inventor, Richard Frederick Morgan, seems to have had a particular concern about. It’s the same R.F. Morgan who three years later took out the patent featured in THIS post regarding a reversible picnic kettle lid. Just to make sure that the dreaded ‘boil-over’ wouldn’t occur, a flange/baffle was built into the filling opening. The patent describes how the orientaion of the lid of the kettle is important, ensuring the steam venting holes are to the rear of the kettle so that water doesn’t spill out of them when pouring. A helpful arrow leaves no doubt. ‘Provisional patent’, which suggests an early production example perhaps. I’ve said there’s no maker’s name on the kettle but in the picnic kettle lid patent the co-applicant was given as E.T. Everton Limited of Birmingham, and the company founded by Edward Thomas Everton became famous for their ‘Eve-Ware’ range of kitchen utensils, not least kettles. An Eve-Ware product but not branded as such? John
Great write-up of a pleasingly designed kettle John, the variety and innovations seen in vessels for the sole purpose of boiling water makes for a wonderful tagent to the stoves themselves. A distinct possibility, I have owned several of the distinctive Eve-Ware kettles with offset filler, all similar but one without the makers name. Possibly they manufactured for other retailers?
