Lighthouse Coffeepot

This coffee pot is from Lamerie's early period and is notable for its simplicity. Beautifully crafted, it is a lighthouse type pot, a design very popular in the early eighteenth century. The body of the pot tapers, as does the spout. The handle, made from fruitwood, is placed at a right angle to the spout. The domed lid is hinged, and it is on the underside of this lid that Lamerie placed his mark. These marks reveal that the pot was made using Britannia grade silver: the highest grade of silver in England. Mandated by law until 1719, it was expensive but amazingly ductile.

The coffee pot is an important form, for it reflects the changes taking place in the social and dining habits of eighteenth-century England. Tea, coffee, and chocolate, originally imported from the Dutch colonies, were becoming very popular as mealtime beverages and as the focal point of the new social gathering place, the coffeehouse.