Model, Product

Object Name:

Model, Product

Object ID:

2011.007.02

Date:

1957

Description:

Model of a portable coffee maker invented by Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753-1814), for use by soldiers and the poor. Combination coffee brewer and cup. Copper with tin-plated interior. Pieces nest together into a compact unit. Five pieces:
A. Bowl-shaped cup with loop handle and ventilated base.
B. Cover for cup, with hole in center that fits bottom of brewing unit. Hole has rotating cover.
C. Brewing unit with tin screen at bottom. Fits on top of covered cup when in use; it fits inside cup for storage.
D. Cover for brewing unit, with copper ring on top.
E. Burner that fits under cup, with cotton wick. Fits inside brewing unit for storage.

Material:

Metal
Copper
Tin

Dimensions:

H-4.5 Dia-4.5 inches

Provenance:

Author and M.I.T. professor Sanborn C. Brown had this model made in the 1950s as an aid to his study of Count Rumford's experiments and inventions. He was the author of numerous works about Rumford's life and inventions. Lois Wright Brown, the donor, is the widow of Sanborn C. Brown.

Born in Woburn, MA, Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford (1753-1814) studied medicine and science while a youth working in a dry goods store. Marriage to the wealthy widow Sarah Walker Rolfe (1739-1792) of Concord in 1772 gave Thompson the leisure time to begin a life of scientific study and experimentation. With the outbreak of the American Revolution, Rumford, a Tory, left for England, where he became a soldier of fortune and scientist. An officer in the British Army, he rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, commanding troops in battle against Americans. A prolific scientist, Count Rumford authored more than fifty essays on subjects ranging from heat and light to the formation and operation of charitable and scientific institutions. After the Revolution, Rumford lived in London, Munich, and Paris, where he served as a diplomat and soldier. He was knighted by King George III, but spent most of his life in service to Carl Theodore, elector of Bavaria, who made him a Count of the Holy Roman Empire.

Rumford said that this coffee maker is for "very poor persons who cannot afford to buy a coffee pot."

Credit Line:

Gift of Lois Wright Brown

People:

Thompson, Benjamin (1753-1814)

Subjects:

Thompson, Benjamin, Coffee, Coffeepots, Coffee cups, Inventions