French Country · Encyclopedia · Copper
Fish kettle
A long seventeenth-century copper fish kettle from Villedieu-les-Poêles, with a notch so it could hang in the hearth. It was used to poach whole salmon and other large fish.
French: saumonière · Villedieu-les-Poêles · 17th century
At a glance
- Origin: Villedieu-les-Poêles, Normandy
- Period: seventeenth century
- Use: poaching whole fish
- Detail: a notch for hanging in the fireplace
What it is
A long, narrow lidded pan in which a whole fish could be poached. Many have an inner rack for lifting the fish out without breaking it.
Villedieu-les-Poêles
The Norman town of Villedieu-les-Poêles has been a center of copperwork for centuries, as its name, meaning Villedieu-the-pans, suggests. Its workshops supplied kitchens throughout France.
Collecting and using it
Long kettles are often dented; minor dents are acceptable. Check the lining before cooking.
A fish kettle hung on a kitchen wall or set on top of a dresser shows off its long, elegant shape.
Source: Les Trésors de France: vieux métiers et objets d'autrefois (Éditions Rustica, Détours en France collection, 1995), pp. 138–142, with general background on the object. The book was published in 1995, so workshops, people and figures are described as they were then. Regional names and dates are given as the book records them; a style or a region of origin does not by itself date an individual piece.