John Frederick Peto (1890s) - The Old Kettle

A dented copper kettle rests on a forest-green tablecloth in this horizontal still life painting. The kettle takes up the left two-thirds of the composition, and the finial of the lid and the tall spout nearly reach the top edge of the painting. The spout is angled to our right, and the far side of the kettle beyond the spout falls into shadow. The lid sits loosely on the opening. A thin, yellow matchstick with a dark blue head lays flat on the tablecloth just in front of the kettle and below its spout. A tornado-shaped area gouge is dug out of the elephant-gray wall behind the kettle.