Images(9)

Spirit Kettle

SilversmithMade by James Gordon (Aberdeen, Scotland, active c.1766 - 1806)

Date1766-1806

Object NameSpirit Kettle

Mediumsilver, leather

ClassificationsApplied Art

DimensionsOverall (Kettle on stand with handle upright Height x Width x Depth): 330 × 250 × 190mm, 4lb.

AcquisitionPurchased in 2021 with assistance from the National Fund for Acquisitions and the Friends of Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums.

CopyrightOut of copyright - CC0

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDMS095644

Keywords

About MeThe earliest reference to a spirit kettle was in about 1687 and a spirit kettle is a silver teapot or kettle on a stand with a burner underneath it. The burner is fuelled with spirits thus giving the spirit kettle its name.

18th century teapots were small because tea leaves were so expensive so frequently needed refilled during tea parties. Spirit kettles were a practical way to heat water to replenish the teapots.

Tea urns were introduced in about 1770 prompting a decline in the use of spirit kettles. However, there was a resurgence in the use of spirit kettles in the Victorian times possibly due to the introduction of odourless spirits that could be used in the burner.

This spirit kettle was made by Aberdeen silversmith James Gordon who was apprenticed in 1759-1760 to Coline Allan who was one of Aberdeen's leading goldsmiths. Gordon was admitted to the Hammermen Incorporation in 1766 and took a number of apprentices over the next 27 years including Benjamin Lumsden and William Jamieson. He seems to have run a flourishing business both as a jeweller and goldsmith and produced prolific quantities of work.