Antique of the Week: Victorian Egg Poacher

As everyone in Kensington knows, Antique Row is one of the community’s points of pride. Howard Avenue and its side streets are lined with shops specializing in antique furniture, rugs, vintage toys, used books and more. This large presence in the community sparked our feature, Antique of the Week, where we will showcase a different item or curiosity each week to bring attention to pieces from the past.

This week, we’re featuring an English Victorian egg poacher. Darryl Majers, a shopkeeper at the , said that the egg poacher can hold up to four soft-boiled eggs, a traditional convention in England. Majers said that it is silver plated with nickel on the bottom. He believes it is from the late 1800s.

After you’ve prepared the eggs, you can keep them warm by adding boiling water at the bottom of the container, placing the eggs in one of the four holes and covering the lid.  

This Victorian egg poacher is not the same as today’s egg poacher in that you cannot poach eggs in it. Instead, it is simply used to hold your soft-boiled eggs warm.

You can purchase this Victorian egg poacher for $65 at Antique Market II located at 3750 Howard Ave. The phone number there is 301-933-4618. The dealer is Frances DiGregorio of Wisteria Antiques & Collectibles, LLC, who can be reached at 202-412-1453.