FIEE AS AN AGENT IN HUMAN CULTURE 17 



a loop for carrying without getting the fingers burnt. Collected by 

 Dr. W. L. Abbott (pi. 3, fier. 5). 



Among the numerous artistic forms of footwarmers is the Italian 

 copper bucket with brass lugs and bail covered with arabesque de- 

 signs. The lid is coronet shape, the base of brass rods forming a foot 

 rest and preventing the clothes coming in contact with the coals. 



In the Biblia Pauporum of 1410*^ is pictured an oblong box rec- 

 tangular in shape, with strap bars around the sides containing fueL 

 This fire basket, which is intended for warming the feet and hands, 

 is a movable grate which probably antedates the brazier, as in it 

 could be burned wood. It suggests in shape the ordinary French 

 chauferette or foot warmer, a rectangular box with perforated lid and 

 a handle. A French foot warmer of the eighteenth century in the 

 National Museum is oval in shape of fine brass well wrought. The 

 lid is surmounted with a grid of brass strips riveted on. The lid is 

 ornamentally perforated with diamond pattern and is hinged. The 

 bail has a handle of wood. 



A Flemish example dated 1785 is a quaintly formed bucket of 

 brass with a heavy bail hooked into lugs . The lid is convex and is 

 perforated in heart and spearhead design. A beautifully perforated 

 Flemish brass foot warmer is shown in Figure 2, Plate 4. A curious 

 Flemish foot warmer utiHzes the hot plate instead of the direct heat 

 of charcoal. The lid is a plate of cast iron overlaid on the upper 

 side with brass. The lid fits on a perforated brass drum having an 

 ornamental foot. The bail is of heavy brass rod. The heating 

 appliance is lost, but was evidently a shallow pan for the coals. It 

 is probable, also, that the smooth flat top of this stove had some 

 craft or domestic uses. 



The foot stoves of the United States going back to colonial times 

 are all of the same type, consisting of a wooden frame inclosing a per- 

 forated sheet-iron box having a hinged door. Usually there are four 

 turned corner posts holding together the top and bottom of the frame. 

 The ornamental perforations are interesting examples of folk art. 

 Such stoves were principally for carrying to the unheated churches 

 of early days. A similar English foot stove is an oblong rectangular 

 box lined with sheet iron and having a slat lid lined with perforated 

 tin, and fom* vent holes on the sides lined with brass to aid ventila- 

 tion. The bail has a turned wood grip (pi, 4, fig. 3). The foot 

 warmers of the United States seem to be of English derivation. 



The demand for foot stoves in America influenced one of the early 

 examples of manufacture in quantity. The location of this manu- 

 factory is not known to the writer, but finding so many duplicates is 

 good evidence to substantiate the statement. 



"J. Ph. Berjean. London, 1849. 



