Steaming Kettle

A giant gilded copper tea kettle hangs from the Sears Block near Government Center. Manufactured in eighteen seventy-three by the Boston coppersmiths Hicks and Badger, the three hundred pound vessel served as a trade sign for the Oriental Tea Company. At a time when many new immigrants arriving in the city did not speak English, the oversized teapot acted as a visual guide to identify the shop’s specialty.