20th Century Silver Coffee Pots

Coffee has always been an important everyday custom. At first, coffee was greatly frowned upon as many thought it to be a drug. So radical was the feeling against coffee that many bills were introduced into Parliament to prohibit its use. Eventually, coffee became popular in England and in 1651 the earliest known coffee house was opened in Oxford. Also at this time, the sterling silver coffee pot was introduced. Both coffee and silver were expensive and of course the wealthy had the means to purchase both items. Silver coffee pots were first recorded at the St. Germain’s fair in Paris in 1672, and since then they have been produced by English silversmiths in various designs, shapes and forms.