The bird kettle by michael graves for alessi has to be one of the greatest icons of modern design created over the past 23 years. It's hard to believe this design is as old as it is but the bird kettle, with it's soft melodic whistle has become the best ever selling item from alessi. Over the years the bird kettle has spurred a whole range of graves designs by alessi for the kitchen and tabletop. It always adds a touch of fun to the most minimal of kitchen designs and looks equally good placed in really modern or traditional kitchens. Whilst it is undoubtably modern in design the bird kettle echoes its ancestors with a ring of raised dots around the base which remind us of rivets once used to secure base and body in older kettles. This is a feature which has been adopted in all subsequent graves designs.designer : michael graves