Unlike European or North American kettles, this Latin American kettle has a double chamber, one for water and the other for burning coals to keep the water hot. Such kettles are known as ‘Pava hornillo’ (kettle with internal brazier), and the supporting feet indicate that a flame underneath the kettle would not have been required. Tea was not as widespread in South America as in Europe, as two other infused beverages were more popular due to their local plantations: chocolate, which became a fashionable drink consumed by mainland Spanish aristocracy, and ‘Paraguay tea’, known today as yerba mate. This beverage originated in the Pre-Colombian period, and derives from the dried leaves of the South American holly. Yerba mate was enjoyed in salons and official gatherings of the Spanish Viceroyalty of Peru, a colonial administrative district. This kettle was most likely used by wealthy members of colonial Spanish aristocracy who adopted the custom of drinking mate, or so-called ‘tea of South America’. The overhandle is stamped with the words ‘To my children Ernesto and Edelmira de Lambert’, demonstrating that the kettle was a valuable object, worthy of being given as a gift.
