The Kettle Family of Die-Sinkers

Started by constanius, April 28, 2014, 05:23:46 PM

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constanius

The Kettle Family.
After the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes(1685) a French Huguenot glass stainer from Meaux emigrated and settled in Birmingham, England.  His name was Henri Quitel, which at some point was anglicized to Kettle. 

Henry Kettle took over the family business in the late 1780's and expanded it into the manufacturing of counters & medals. His two sons, Thomas & Wiliam join the firm early 1800's & in 1812 Thomas took over the company.

Thomas' son,  Sir Rupert Alfred Kettle who had been knighted in1879, acquired a coat of arms showing a beehive surrounded by a laurel wreath with the motto "Qui Tel", showing the family had not forgotten their roots.  It can be translated as "Who is such a man as this?".

Henry started making imitation spade guineas in 1793.



This is the first token listed in L. B. Fauver's 1982 "Exonumia Symbolism & Classification: A Catalogue of Kettle Pieces....................."
he lists it as Geo III 1793-1b (P) 19-20mm (B2070)  R-7.   b for brass, R-7 for 10-20 in existence.  This was the only one of Kettle's imitation spades that Fauver could not illustrate as he was unable to find an example of it.
Neilson Counter # 2470.

To Be Continued.........




Pat

constanius

#1
Henry Kettle's first medal, according to Fauver, was this Union 1801
Obv. ENGLAND & IRELAND UNITED/ KETTLE/ 1801
Rev. PROSPERITY TO THE UNITED KINGDOMS
In copper Union 1801a 20mm R-8(5-10)
BHM#528 only listed in brass RR(very rare)


To be continued...........


Pat

constanius

#2
Then later in the same year, 1801, for the Preliminary Treaty of Amiens he issued 6 medals.





Of note is the 5th medal down with Geo III on the obverse showing tooling marks & pivot point.  So the die was not completely finished when it was struck and the British Museum has 2 examples showing more work done to the die, it is also is in copper not brass, unlisted as such.

To be continued..........

Pat

constanius

#3
In 1801 Henry Kettle was still making Imitation Spade Guineas but his last issue of them was dated 1802, he was alsp producing the medals for the Treaty of Amiens the last of which is the one pictured below, dated 1802 but he also found time to issue in 1801, 1803 & 1805 Imitation U.S. Gold Coins


Circa 1803 he changed the firm's name to Kettle & Sons, the exact date when his presumed eldest son Thomas took over the company is not known but c.1812.

I will post a few of his pieces later.

To be continued......




Pat

constanius

#4
In the same way that his father took full advantage of the peace in 1801 by issuing so many commemoratives so did Thomas Kettle in 1814 with the defeat of Napoleon.  Thomas found inspiration in a satirical cartoon, which he copied and so the image was reversed upon the medal struck, which became one that Napoleonic & Kettle collectors must have.

(courtesy of the Bodleian Library)

I was fortunate to find an unlisted variety & one which so far I have been unable to find another.   I have seen about 30 images of the regular one since I found the variant.


Some of the differences are....length of the horns, distance between foot & hind leg, angle of body & arm & ground behind the hindmost leg.

To be continued...........


Pat

constanius

#5
BHM#823 The Peace of Paris, R.   
Fauver page 39/40: Geo P.W. 1814-1b (P) 24mm R-8.

Obv. Uniformed bust of the Prince Regent bare head left. H.R.H GEORGE PRINCE OF WALES. P. R. T.
Rev. Inscription within open wreath WELLINGTON / ALEXANDER / BLUCHER / PEACE / 1814

These, though both brass, have a very different composition, the first is typical of Kettles brass pieces but the second though appearing harder seems to be compressed more, perhaps double struck?  I have another medal, struck from this unusual brass, which I will be posting later.  The close-up image below shows the copying/reducing lines clearly.



To be continued.......

Pat

constanius

Forrer states that a 1814 medal signed 'K & S' was issued by Kettle but that was in fact issued by Kempson & Sons, though not engraved by them.

The period the company was known as Kettle & Sons only lasted between c.1803-c.1812 and 'K & S' on their medals was only used between 1805(Death of Nelson) - 1809(Geo III 50th year), by 1810, though the company was still Kettle & son, only 'Kettle' was used.  The two pieces signed K & S, that Forrer stated were by Kettle, fall out of that date range. 

By 1814 the company was run by Thomas Kettle(medals from this date in Brown are listed as by T. Kettle) & he only used 'Kettle' or, in many cases, left his work unsigned.

To be continued.....

Pat

constanius

#7
This is an interesting group from 1814, though there is some doubt about the last one as to date of issue, what is not in doubt is that the person portrayed on all these medals is Frederick Wilhelm II(who died in 1797) not his son, Frederick Wilhelm III.  The first two commemorate the Preliminaries of The  Paris Peace Treaty but the third, is almost an exact copy of the Prussian 1796 d'or down to the Berlin mintmark & could equally have been issued as a imitation gold coin for gaming, perhaps as early as 1801 when Kettle senior began issuing imitation American golds coins.  Part of the fascination of collecting Kettle pieces is that there is still scope for research, study & conjecture.



To be continued.......




Pat

constanius

#8
The Restoration of the Bourbon Dynasty 1814



Obv. Uniformed bust of Louis XVIII, bare head left. LOUIS XVIII RESTOD MAR 31 1814 laurel branches below.
Rev. Inscription within sprays of palm and laurel BY / THE.UNITED / EFFORTS / OF / ENGLAND / AND.ITS / ALLIES
BHM#801 AE silvered 25 by Thomas Kettle. RR.


Brokage of the obverse of BHM #800 struck on an undersized(24mm) & thinner planchet than usual.
Uniformed bust of Louis XVIII bare head facing. LOUIS XVIII RESTORED MAR. 31. 1814 Br. 25 by T. Kettle R.

To be continued......

Pat

constanius

#9
I need to back up to add my latest acquisition.

1794 imitation spade guinea by Henry Kettle.  Geo III 1794 2a plain edge R-7, Fauver.

Has been savagely cleaned but the detail is still superb, especially for an extremely rare piece.  It is the best example that I have seen,  the fact of it being cleaned might account for its very light colour but a term that Batty used sparingly "Pale Copper" for some other items, would fit.



To be continued.....

Pat

THCoins

Only just could take the time to read your whole thread from beginning to end.
Very interesting story, and thorough research. Thanks for this !

Figleaf

I may read too much into the story and the medals, but it seems that we have here a designer who was frustrated by his forced emigration. Peace is more than a commercial opportunity, it is a goal. Napoleon is a war monger. Kettle will not miss him.

Peter
An unidentified coin is a piece of metal. An identified coin is a piece of history.

malj1

This Kettle piece recently acquired.

A spade guinea type with legend GOD PROTECTS THE JUST rev. obit etc. Brass 26mm.
Malcolm
Have a look at  my tokens and my banknotes.

constanius

#13
That is BHM#994, Kettle used that bust of George previously in 1810.

Here is an unsigned variant of that 1810 medal BHM #682 with Kettle below the bust. 

Forrer lists this unsigned variant as Geo III 50th-4a(the 'a' being for copper) and rates it as rarity R-8(5-10 pieces) but does not list it as silvered, making this as possibly being  R-9(2-4) or R-10(unique).

 

Pat

constanius

#14
BHM#995, 1820 Death Medal;  (Forrer lists it as 1810 Jubilee Medal, which is right?)
Obv.   Similar to No. 994. Laureate head of George III, right. GOD PROTECTS THE JUST
Rev.   Name of Jehovah in Hebrew above rays shining down on Imperial crown. FEAR GOD HONOUR THE KING
25mm by T. Kettle. RRRR. Highest rarity in BHM.

It is hard to decide on the year, as the same obverse was used both for the 1810 dated Jubilee & the 1820 Death medals.  So undated medals, with a reverse that could conceivably be appropriately used for either, are a problem.  Personally, I feel the inscription on the reverse better suits the Jubilee in 1810.


Plain Edge, Unsigned, Small Gap Head to 'C'


Straight Engrailed Edge, Signed, Large Gap


Diagonally Engrailed Edge, Signed, Large Gap

Pat