Government Center’s Golden Teapot Is Back, Buffed, and Belching Steam
Photo by lovinkat on Flickr/Creative Commons
The golden teapot that’s blown off steam in Government Center (née Scollay Square) for nearly 150 years returned to its home above the Starbucks on Court Street Thursday.
The teapot, which generates its signature stream of steam from the 227-and-a-half gallons of water in its golden belly, was badly damaged in an apparent truck crash back in May.
Streaming kettle out of commission after a truck hit it last night. @GlobeMetro @WCVB pic.twitter.com/TRNdsL9HUU
— Dan Hunt (@RepDanHunt) May 9, 2016
ViewPoint Sign and Awning was tasked with the teapot’s $15,000 restoration, overseen by Starbucks. The Northborough company enlisted the help of a Woburn copper worker and a local plumber for the job, which including covering the kettle with 1,250 2-by-2-inch sheets of goldleaf and replacing its rotted top with a replica resin one, ViewPoint’s Duane Walker told the Globe.
The copper teapot was first installed by the Oriental Tea Company in the late 1800s, and later became the de facto symbol of the Steaming Kettle coffeeshop chain. Starbucks, the current occupant, calls 63-65 Court Street its “Steaming Kettle’’ location.
