Coffee percolator

1850 - 1900

This design for a coffee machine dates from the 1840s. The Parisian Louis Gabet obtained a patent in 1844 and another Frenchman Preterre registered his design in London in 1849. It works as follows: ground coffee is put into the glass container and cold water into the porcelain pot; the weight of the water pushes open the little lid of the meths burner and, when the water is hot, the contents of the pot are transferred to the glass container and the counterweight helps lift the right pot. This releases the lid of the burner, which drops down and extinguishes the flame. When the heat source disappears, cooling begins and the coffe - which is in a vacuum - can flow back to the porcelain pot from which it is served by means of a little tap. (Source: The Sterckshof Collection)

• Places and dates

  France, 1850? - 1900? (Production)

• Materials

  Glass , Metal , Porcelain

• Category

  Equipment

• Object number

  S2192