This kettle on stand was made in Delft in 1761 by Dirk van de Goorberg.
The elegant kettle is standing on the accompanying brazier with burner. In the kettle the water with which the strong tea from the small teapots was diluted was kept warm.

Europeans took the small Chinese rice wine pots - that came with the tea as ballast on Dutch East India Company vessels- as models for their teapots. Very strong tea was brewed in them. A small quantity of this tea was poured into a cup and then topped up with hot water from a kettle placed over the spirit stove. This method meant that a relatively large number of cups of tea could be poured from a small pot.

This piece is now on loan from our collection to the Museum Prinsenhof, for the exhibition Delft Silver.