A tea kettle is a vessel for boiling or keeping water hot for making tea. In antique silver the term usually refers to a large kettle with a swing handle and spout, set on a matching stand containing a spirit lamp, which kept the water hot at the tea table so that the teapot could be refilled. Domestic kettles of copper, brass and iron for heating water over the fire form a separate collecting field.
Silver tea kettles on stands were made in England from the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, as tea drinking became fashionable among the wealthy. Early examples are often plain or faceted, while those of the mid eighteenth century may be richly chased with Rococo flowers and scrolls. From the later eighteenth century the tea urn largely replaced the kettle, but kettles returned to favour in the Victorian period as part of grand tea services. Arts and Crafts designers, among them W. A. S. Benson, produced fine copper and brass spirit kettles. Collectors look for full hallmarks on kettle, stand and lamp, an original burner, sound hinges and an insulated handle in good condition.
