Tarnish, Part 1: The beginning

History, science, & research

I love learning about vintage copper almost as much as I love using it.

Useful terms

The French names of specific cooking vessels often reveal their intended use and can help you understand how to use them in the present day. I’ve compiled an alphabetical list of Useful Terms to translate and explain them.


History & mysteries

I see vintage copper as a unique type of historical artifact: it embodies the aesthetics and technology of an obsolete age, and yet in many cases is just as useful today as it was when it was made. Coming to understand the people who made it gives me a deeper appreciation not only of what it meant in its day but also what it represents now. History & mysteries gathers these posts into one place.


Library

I’ve done quite a bit of research in online records to build timelines for copper makers and their stamps. The Library is my growing list of sites I have found helpful that are publicly available and usually free.


“Science”

I’m a curious person and I’ve poked around a bit in the physics and chemistry of copper and tin to understand why copper pots behave the way they do. I’m not a scientist or metallurgist so I put “Science” in quotation marks — I welcome corrections from those who are!