Glue pots or kettles (copper)

Until the advent of modern chemical glues, carpenter’s glue was widely used for bonding. A hard brittle gelatin made by boiling horn, hoof and fish bones, it is supplied to the joiner in toffee-coloured slabs. The glue is broken into small bits and put into the inner pot of a double kettle. Water is put into the outer pot, the inner pot set inside and the water is heated until the bits of glue melt together to a runny consistency. The glue is applied with a brush to the joints to form a bond stronger than the wood itself. Glue-pots were often made of copper since this metal was a good conductor of heat. This selection of nineteenth-century glue kettles ranges from the soldered and flanged item made by Bass & Co. to the tiny double kettle. The various techniques in manufacture are a tribute to the coppersmiths’ art: hand-beating to form the basic shape; overlap dovetailing; making rolled seams, and brazing and riveting.