WHY IT’S HOT Teakettles, Colonial cauldrons, soup
ladles, French sauté pans—if you can cook with it and it’s
forged from copper, it’s catching the eye of collectors.
“Anything copper is having a moment,” says dealer and
author Kim Leggett of City Farmhouse in Nashville.
“Some prefer patina, but most people like it polished.”
Because copper has been hammered, rolled, or cast
into a host of utilitarian pieces for hundreds of years,
you can choose your era. Display pieces to warm up
your kitchen or put them to use heating supper—either
way, this hard-wearing, hardworking metal shines.
HINT To assess the date of a piece, know that early
kettles were made of thick, hand-hammered copper. On
pieces that were made before 1850, seams were folded
over and dovetailed together; after that decade, they
were soldered. Later pieces were lined with tin, due to
the discovery that cooking acidic foods in copper can
be toxic. (Note: Verdigris, while a beautiful patina, is
also toxic. Unless a piece is regularly polished, do not
use it in food prep.)
COST Pre-1850s pieces carry price tags from $100 to
$500, but bargains can be had, especially if you don’t
mind a few small dings and dents (which for some add
to the well-used appeal). You can scoop up teakettles
and tin-lined copper cookware from the late-19th
century for less than $100.