Michael Lax kettles
Posted: Mon Feb 07, 2022 9:55 am
- copco-kettle.jpg (428.43 KiB) Viewed 3126 times
Thought they might deserve their own thread -- unique (for the time) enameled kettles with laminated teak handles made for Copco.
From an obituary on Michael Lax:
(https://www.theguardian.com/news/1999/j ... bituaries2)Lax's first real break as a solo designer came when Samuel Farber, a friend he had met while taking his daughter to nursery school, announced that he was setting up a company, Copco. A 20-year collaboration, and a longer friendship, ensued. Lax developed a line of cast-iron and porcelain enamel cookware for the fledgling firm (at the time, an industry first), followed in 1962 by Copco's signature piece, a kettle, made of pressed sheet metal and porcelain enamel (subsequently available in orange, yellow, blue and olive) with a bent teak handle. The cheery, elegant, stove-top kettle without a whistle became a symbol of modern design; more than 1m were sold before it was discontinued in the mid-80s.
The location of production shifted around a few times. I think they were originally made in Holland, while by the 1980s they were made in Japan. I've seen a few made in Spain. For a time came with smarmy "How to boil water" instructions.
