HEATING AND LIGHTING UTENSILS IN NATIONAL MUSEUM 93 



cooking stove. In this stove hot water is utilized in cooking, 

 attended with notable economy of fuel. The stove is drum shape 

 and has an arched opening for draft and feeding. The fire box 

 has a grate and ventilates through the top of tlie stove by a flue. 

 The surrounding part of the stove forms a reservoir for water, in 

 which hang two tubular pots with lid and a larger vessel also with 

 lid in which food is placed for cooking. The parts in contact with 

 fire arc of brass. The Chinese name of this is saiiisu. (PI. 80, 

 fig. 7; Cat. No. 75340, Amoy, China; Philadelphia Centennial 

 Exhibition, 1876; 13 inches (33 cm.) diameter. 11% inches (30 cm.) 

 high.) 



An additional specimen is a teapot stove of pewter and brass, also 

 Chinese. The base of pierced brass, ornamented with geomantic 

 and other characters, contains the grate. The teapot has a conical 

 brass hot-air flue ventilating through the lid. It is decorated with 

 incised characters in Chinese. (PI. 80, fig. 2; Cat. No. 75338; Swa- 

 tow, China; Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876; 3.9 inches 

 (10 cm.) diameter, 7.5 inches (19 cm.) high.) Shown with this 

 specimen is a pewter teapot from Chefoo, China. (PI. 80, fig. 1; 

 Cat. No. 130333, Centennial Exposition, Philadelphia, 1876; 5.5 

 inches (14 cm.) diameter, 4.4 inches (11 cm.) high.) 



In the seventeenth century hot-water vessels for the table tea serv- 

 ice were furnished with an iron billet which could be heated at the 

 fire and lowered into a vertical tulje in the center of the reservoir. 

 This was the method with the laundry iron of the period. It appears 

 that the use of the stored heat of the hot iron preceded the spirit 

 lamp. The specimen figured is of English craft and is a model of 

 design and execution in hammered copper. The date attributed to 

 the specimen in 1683 but is apparently too early. It is inscribed in 

 ink : " 17th Century English Cofl'ee Urn from an old Welch Coach- 

 ing Inn of Richard Weeks " and the date 1683 is engraved. The 

 cover is stamped " Best. London Manufac." The handles and spout 

 roundel are of ivory. (PI. 80, fig. 8; Cat. No. 95829; gift of llichard 

 Weeks; 9.1 inches (23 cm.) diameter, 16.2 inches (41 cm.) high.) 

 An English coffee biggin of tinned iron decorated with pierced work 

 and lion's head drop handles was used in the family of Prof. S. F. 

 Baird, second secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. It consists 

 of three sections fitting together, the top section with a perforated 

 receptacle for holding coffee, the middle section for the percolated 

 coffee, fitted with a brass cock, and the base containing a cup holding 

 an iron disk to be heated. The specimen had come down in the 

 family and is believed to be colonial. (PL 81«, fig. 2; Cat. No. 

 75341, gift of Mrs. S. F. Baird; 17.3 inches (44 cm.) high.) Another 

 biggin for hot water is of tinned iron, well shai)ed, with rigid handles 



