Coffee pot

Object Type
The coffee pot was used to infuse ground coffee. Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, published in 1888 recommended adding 1/2 -1 tablespoonful of coffee for each person and 1/2 pint of water to every ounce of coffee put into the coffee pot to give a strong coffee which could be diluted with hot milk or cream. A small muslin bag was used as a filter. British households generally continued to prefer tea throughout the 19th century, but coffee was offered at most social gatherings in the home, from dinner parties to 'at home' tea parties, balls and suppers.

The Victorian Tea Service
A complete tea service in one pattern and material was just one option for the Victorian household. Those consumers who could afford it were more likely to purchase a silver teapot, tea kettle and stand, milk jug and sugar bowl, as well as a coffee pot, to use with porcelain cups and saucers. Domestic advice manuals advised the housewife to buy equipment and cutlery as the minimum quantity of silver that a respectable household should own. Electroplated nickel silver (a cheaper, plated alternative ) was an accepted substitute for silver. In 1869 the manufacturers Elkington & Co. advertised similar coffee pots in their catalogue for £ 6 6s (£6.30). Apart from the tea kettle, the coffee pot was the most expensive item for serving hot drinks.

The Manufacturer
Elkington & Co., who made this coffee pot, became the largest and most successful silversmithing business in England in the 19th century, supplying the top end of the domestic market as well as the emerging hotel, restaurant and travel trade. The firm was founded in Birmingham by George Richard Elkington (1801-1865) and his cousin Henry Elkington (about 1801-1852), who with the capital from other business partners exploited the development of the new manufacturing processes of electroplating (depositing silver on a base metal by the action of an electric current ), electrogilding (gilding by use of electricity ) and electrotyping (a form of electronic casting to form the whole object ). This coffee pot was made by the electroplating method. By marketing electroplate as a cheaper substitute for silver and by selling the patents for all the new techniques Elkingtons revolutionised the silver and plating trades throughout the world.