Superb example of an antique Silver Plated French Dubelloire or Coffee filter in a one cup design made by Felix Freres Toulouse.
This is one of 4 that we discovered at a Brocante in the South of France.
(Also spelt Débéloire or le dubelloire or la débelloire – we have discovered a few spelling variations while researching these pieces)
This system for filtering coffee was invented in 1802 in Paris, France by Belloy. Felix Freres existed in Toulouse from 1877 and the Dubelloire was manufactured from approx 1900.
The antique coffee cup set consists of all pieces shown in the images. The Main filter, internal filter and lid. The ceramic coffee cup, the silver external cup and the matching saucer.
This version has Bakelite tips on the handles to ensure you don’t get burnt removing the filter from your fantastic cup of coffee!
How to use a Dubelloire ?
Put the filter on top of the cup. Lift out inner filter and add the ground coffee beans (use about twice amount as for a regular cup), insert the top water filter which fits in tightly, add about 2 tablespoons of just-boiled water to moisten. When the water has been absorbed, lift the top lid and add more just-boiled water to fill your cup.
Then wait for the water to pass through the ground coffee. When all the water has filtered through the coffee beans into your cup your coffee is ready to drink.