Description:
Tin footwarmer with traces of the old red paint over the pine and maple frame. Footwarmers, common objects in 18th and 19th century homes, were a portable source of heat for the home, church, or wagon. and had a tin of hot coals placed inside to keep a person's feet warm; very often these coal pans are lost. 18th century examples are rare since pierced tin plate corrodes easily. This footwarmer has four turned and red-painted wooden supports at the four corners, which are doweled into wooden slats mortised together to form a square at the top and bottom. The wooden box holds a tinned sheet iron box, accessible through a side door. The sheet iron has been incised, punched, and pierced with decorative design which allowed the heat to excape; three sides have a punched star within a circle, and the door has two smaller stars within the circle. The top, which is punched through with six rows of holes, has an attached bail handle. George Sheldon donated a footwarmer to PVMA, listed in the Kitchen as, "603. Foot Stove with Ash Pan, 1780."
Link to share this object record:
https://museums.fivecolleges.edu/detail.php?t=objects&type=ext&id_number=HD+1998.36.16 |
