HISTORY:
Well, here is something just a bit 'different' (for us anyway) ... we are not coffee bean users and in fact are not "coffee connoisseurs" at all!
Here's the 'rub' ...
We have a friend who ran a cafe and they used this as a "prop" mainly, it suited the theme of their little boutique coffee cafe. Apparently they obtained the grinder a long time ago and it had seen some use when they received it but there hasn't been many beans put through the grinder in recent years, the last time being when they showed me how it worked a few weeks ago. This was up on the wall behind the counter I believe.
I have been asked (because of my reputation for "sustainability" and re-using useful things instead of burying them in the ground) to find a new owner for this grinder as the previous owners have now 'closed shop'
DeVe (Holland) - Manual Coffee Bean Grinder (Mill)
Circa 1950's
Very similar design to the coffee grinders from Armin Trosser of Germany. I mention this because I like to know the 'background' of anything that 'crosses my path' and I can find very little information about this company in Holland called De Ve. Germany had a number of coffee grinder manufacturers and some did open factories across in Holland in the early 20th Century. I couldn't find any conclusive information, even about the name - De Ve, what does that stand for?, I wonder.
Cast Iron grinder (I checked and it is ferrous = Iron) and not an alloy or Aluminium.
Wall mounting timber backplate which is 10.25mm thick and has 4x corner holes for securing to a wall.
The lower section of the backplate has a multi-coloured metallic triangular shaped label which says ....
MADE IN HOLLAND
(Central area is a graphic of a windmill)
De Ve
Porcelain hopper which has been HAND PAINTED and is in the very well known Delft Ultramarine Blue style. We know 'Delft ware' well from our porcelain collecting days but this porcelain has no markings at all as to who created the porcelain or decorated it.
Chrome plated grinder handle with a wooden end section for the user to grip
6mm thickness clear glass catch cup
The underside of the catch cup has stamped into the glass
2179
5
DIMENSIONS:
310mm height x 140mm wide x 190mm deep (including the handle which 'sticks out')
Wall hanging weight: 1.7Kg
COSMETIC CONDITION:
Well.....it is USED
After we were shown how these things work, it was cleaned inside by the previous owner.
The years have seen a bit of cosmetic wear but overall it is in not-too-bad condition, the wear is all cosmetic and NOTHING is broken or damaged
HOWEVER, the astute 'lover of coffee grinders' will immediately notice that the 'top cap' is missing. Apparently it used to have a wooden top cap but that 'disappeared' years ago so the previous owner just used a small ceramic dish to cover the top. They weren't using the grinder so, for them, this worked well. If someone was considering actually using this grinder then perhaps a plastic, cork or even a nice circular piece of bakelite would do the trick (bakelite sort of fits the time period) You will need a top cap with a 56mm OD or if fitting something like a cork 'plug' then that will need to be 48mm diameter to fit inside the top opening.
The lovely OLD Delft style porcelain is in pretty typical condition ... yes there is crazing, which is where the top clear glaze coating over the porcelain has broken down and little cracks appear. Into those cracks enter bacteria and plain old dirt, the result is light discolouration in some areas - mainly around the top opening. Crazing is a very common issue with old porcelain.
NO chips or cracks to the porcelain
Hand crafted decoration of the Dutch windmill scene is in pretty good condition - actually a nice example of Delft ware.
The cast iron grinder rotates with no problems, the inner worm teeth look to be fine. I believe it is quite clean inside (cleaned by the previous owner)
There is a side spring/knob adjustment, this works and seems to adjust the worm gear inside slightly.
The glass catch cup is in very good condition with no chips or even marks which shouldn't be there.
I did 90% dismantle the grinder except inside the grinder itself (see all the photographs?), both to carefully examine the components, view how it was made and also to show how easy it is to dismantle (just 4x screws) in case someone wanted to restore this grinder to it's former glory. Quite frankly our view is that as this is an item from 70 years ago and most likely frequently used at some stage - it is unrealistic to want or expect that "new from the factory look" ... sometimes old items should be left looking old (but as long as they still function properly of course)
I have now reassembled the grinder and put it safely away within a clear plastic packaging while it awaits a new owner who would like to adorn their wall with this old Dutch grinder ...
