Gently burnished by time, antique copper cookware is prized for its mellowed patina that alludes to a rich past. But to fully appreciate its heritage, one must also delve into the history of modern gastronomy, for the two are closely related. For centuries, cooking was mostly done over an open flame and typically involved a cauldron or roasting spit. But two developments modernized cookery and subsequently led to the necessity of copper cookware: the birth of haute cuisine in 17th-century France and the invention of the cooking range in the 18th century. Naturally, it was the French who paved the way in both cases.
A refinement of cooking that was groundbreaking, haute cuisine emphasized technique, such as braising and sautéing. Ingredients like herbs and butter resulted in the development of a diverse array of dishes, stocks, and sauces, which formed the foundation of modern French cuisine. To successfully prepare this variety of dishes, an assemblage of specialized cookware, including saucepans and stockpots of various sizes, became necessary and was known as a batterie de cuisine. Sophisticated cooking techniques also meant that the heat source, the cooking flame, had to be better controlled, hence the invention of the cooking range, conceived by a Frenchman and later perfected by an Englishman. A superior and even conductor of heat, copper became the material of choice for chefs’ batteries de cuisine beginning in the 18th century and, when partnered with the cooking range, provided the means with which they could execute any number of dishes.
Expensive to the point that only the wealthy could afford it, copper cookware, like so many other luxury items, became status symbols, so much so that by the 19th century, the kitchens of Europe’s great houses were groaning under the weight of their copper-utensil inventories. A well-stocked kitchen in an upper-class household typically included a myriad of copper saucepans, stockpots, fish poachers, and au gratin pans, often of graduated sizes. Many of these vessels also required corresponding lids with handles. When displayed altogether, the effect could be quite splendid, especially when the batterie de cuisine was as vast as that at Petworth House, the grand English country estate whose copper cookware collection eventually grew to around a thousand pieces. Even the eminently practical Isabella Beeton, Victorian England’s foremost authority on cooking and domestic life, conceded to copper cookware’s decorative appeal when she wrote in her 1861 manual, Mrs. Beeton’s Book of Household Management, that it is “an ornament to the kitchen when kept beautifully clean.”
While copper pots and pans aided 19th-century chefs in preparing the grandiose dishes that were then all the rage, it was a craze for intricately shaped mousses, aspics, jellies, and bombes that was responsible for the most curious piece of cookware in the Victorian-era kitchen: the mold. Made of ceramic, tin, or the most-desired copper, molds were often elaborate, designed to resemble any number of forms ranging from the architectural, like spires or towers, to the fanciful, such as animals or crowns. Along with commercially produced gelatin, molds were essential tools in the 19th-century kitchen, and it was not uncommon for households to own multiple molds. This was certainly the case for the Duke of Wellington, whose household inventory of molds numbered well over two hundred, many of which are now on display in the kitchen at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England.
Sadly, much 18th- and 19th-century European copper cookware was melted down over time for use in wartime artillery production, so what has survived is highly treasured, especially copper molds, which now play mostly decorative roles. But not all antique copper pieces have been relegated to display. In the kitchen at Claridge’s, London’s fabled hotel, a few late-19th-century copper pots once used by famed chef Escoffier are still in use, proof that copper cookware is not only durable, but timeless, too.
Need to KNOW
• Although copper cookware was manufactured throughout Europe and in parts of America, it was in France and England where production was particularly robust. Susan Stone of Eve Stone Antiques, Ltd. in East Haven, Connecticut, is especially fond of antique English copper. “Its construction and form is of better quality than any other country of manufacture. French copper is lovely but cruder in its execution than English copper.”
• The range of antique copper forms is extensive, and while Stone considers all antique copper to be collectible, she identifies 19th-century English copper hot water kettles and molds as being particularly popular among collectors.
• Historically, antique copper cookware was lined in tin, which prevented food acids from reacting with copper to form verdigris, a potentially lethal poison that can taint food. Over time and through frequent use, the tin linings wear thin, which means that copper pieces must be retinned if they are to be used for cooking. Although Stone advises collectors to avoid pieces that have been repaired, which adversely affects quality and price, retinning is not a detriment to value when done properly.
• When it comes to prices, Stone uses molds as an example. “An average English mold can be found for $200, yet a rare figural mold of a lion, elephant, or crown can fetch thousands of dollars.” She also advises collectors to avoid buying 20th-century copper, which she considers to be thin and badly made.
