Maker: Cauldon  Pattern: Blue Moore

A fabulous and most unusual piece. The round pot has the handle at right angles to the spout and sitting on the top is a two handled pierced biggin with lid. The origin of the coffee biggin is obscure, although it is said to have been invented at various dates in the 18th or early 19th century in either France or England by a Mr Biggin, who was subsequently knighted. Some say the word biggin comes from the Dutch word beggelin, which apparently means to trickle, although it is not a word that appears in modern Dutch language dictionaries! It is likely a mis-spelling of the word biggelen which means roll as in tears rolling down a face, beads of sweat and bubbling up in the manner of a spring of water. The basic principle is that a muslin filter is placed within the container sitting on top of the pot and ground coffee is put into the muslin and hot water poured in, which then filters through the ground coffee and muslin, to fill the pot below with filtered coffee. This more modern version probably allows the muslin to be dispensed with as the piercings in the biggin are quite fine.
Backstamp: Blue Moore Cauldon Ltd England Brown Westhead Moore & Co.
There is a little minor discolouration inside the pot. The inner rim of the biggin lid has two tiny chips and a hairline and there is a small hairline to the base of the finial. All in all this is a fabulous set.

Dimensions: Pot holds 1.35 ltr / Pot holds 2.25 pint