Name of the item: Cooker. La Cornue. Rotisseuse / Patissiere
Date: approx. 1920-1930
Manufacturer: La Cornue, Francia, 1908
Material: Steel and ceramic
Registration number: MG 419 / HO. 06
Catalana de Gas Collection. Gas Museum
The history of cookers has evolved a lot from its beginnings until the modern day. People used to cook with coal or wood on special cookers made of iron to maintain the heat and cook food. Can you imagine cooking with wood in the 21st century? James Sharp initiated the change by lighting the first gas cooker in 1832. Despite this initiative, gas was not installed in houses until the 1880s. After this, Robert Bunsen improved the combustion of the lighters, making cookers safer and more efficient. From then, wood and coal cookers were replaced with gas cookers, starting with the highest class of society.
Although gas was installed in homes, the combustion mechanism, the design and the complements to the initial conventional cookers evolved.