Sunday, June 5, 2011

Copco Michael Lax Kettle

I attended a popular Spring Church Sale recently, patiently waiting in a huge lineup to get inside to check out the goods. After waiting about 20 minutes, everyone surged in - it actually seemed borderline unsafe... I hate crowds, so I decided to have a quick look at housewares and be on my way.


One of the tables were lined with people and I craned over their heads to look, and found a simple looking kettle with a teak handle. It was in the style of the Michael Lax Copco kettles but there were many knockoffs made of this Mid Century Modern design. There have been many times when I turned similar kettles upside down to see "Japan" marked on the underside.


This time however, there was no mistaking it: "Copco Michael Lax Design - Spain" was written on the underside! Another beautiful sight was the little yellow sticker reading $5.00. I first came to know Copco pieces, some made in Denmark, when I discovered this lovely red Copco Skillet.


I should have known by its heavy weight that it was a quality made item. I have fawned over this piece in the beautiful blue colour, but this pale peachy colour has its charm too. The teak knob and handle are in fairly rough shape, however. I think I am going to try sanding it down and applying mineral oil to it, similar to how we refinished some pieces in the past.


I really love the simple look. In fact I am also loving kettles lately and seem to keep finding great ones. If you'd like to read more about refinishing teak and other wood kitchen items, read about using foodsafe mineral oil here.

Linking up to ATG's Thrift Share Monday and Her Library Adventures Flea Market Finds!

12 comments:

  1. I adore vintage tea kettles like this one but they are always super rusty when I see them at the thrift store/estate sales. Great find and thank you for posting tips on refinishing teak!

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  2. Score! I should go and inspect my friends green kettle in similar design, now that I know what to look for : )

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  3. Great find! I love the wooden details. Thanks for stopping by my blog! And I will definitely keep everyone updated on what happens with that drum shade. :)

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  4. ooo.. I know the feeling of turning similarly styled kettles around looking for that Copco mark... you hold your breath for a split second then VOILA! Congrats!

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  5. you always find the neatest stuff.

    I'd love to go to these church sales you talk about. I never seem to see them out here in the burbs.

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  6. Luckily this one was in pretty great shape. It needs a good cleaning, but the interior is decent, luckily. I can't wait to try cleaning up the wood. I forgot to mention - Five Bucks for this beauty! I'll update the post to mention it.

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  7. Great find! We've passed on many Copco lookalikes as well, good to see you got a real one.

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  8. My mom has this exact pot! I believe she thrifted it as well, I use it all the time when I visit her to brew tea ;)

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  9. Nice. The funny thing is that there were probably 100 people in there ahead of me, and they all passed this by. I am a bit wistful that it isn't blue, but I bet if it were, someone would have snatched it up already!

    I'll post up some new photos if the sanding and mineral oil thing works out well.

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  10. I have a kettle that resembles the shape, style, and material as this copco one. It has a hand painted vintage looking "dog/puppy with ball" on it. The style is like the ones by Martin Leman, but not a cat. I mean EXACTLY like the Martin Leman ones, just with a dog. There is no writing on it anywhere! Do you have any idea who this was made by? I know it's a long shot to ask, but I'm exausting options.

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  11. Good question... From what I understand, a lot of kettles copying the Copco design were made, often from Japan, so unfortunately I have no idea!

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