2017/15

Flat cylindrical copper bedwarmer, with small iron handle, which can be filled with hot water and used to warm up a bed. It has a lid in the centre, inscribed 'IMPORTANT FILL FULL'. Possibly used in an old education handling collection.

1 flat cylindrical bedwarmer: copper, iron

MERL Miscellaneous note - Found unentered in the workshop. Assumed part of an old handling collection made prior to the Museum moving from Whiteknights to Redlands Road in 2004., Object research project, Madeleine Ding, January 2020 – 'How can this object be described? // This is a bedwarmer. It is a flat cylindrical copper container with a small iron handle. It has a hole in the centre to fill with hot water. The lid is inscribed 'IMPORTANT FILL FULL'. // How would the warmer have been used? // This bedwarmer was filled with hot water. It was placed between the sheets to warm up a bed. The metal would get very hot, so it should be moved around to stop the sheets getting burnt. // Why was it used? // Bedwarmers are found in countries that have cold winters. Historically houses heated by open fires left unheated bedrooms cold, so warming a bed made it nicer to climb into. // When was it used? // It is unknown exactly when this bedwarmer was used but probably in the 1800s. // What are other styles of bedwarmer? // The oldest bedwarmers were simply bricks warmed by the oven and wrapped in blankets. The warming pan was a metal pan with a lid and a long handle, filled with hot embers from a fire. Another old variation was known as a bed wagon. This was a large wooden frame designed to hold a pot of glowing fuel in the centre of the bed underneath the covers. // We still use bedwarmers today such as rubber hot water bottles and electric blankets. // What other objects in the collection relate to this item? // The MERL’s collection holds other bedwarmers, also heated with hot water. Two are metal containers [61/100 and 68/219] and one is a ceramic container [68/390]. // When did it come to the MERL and how has it been used? // This bedwarmer was found in the Museum. We do not know who originally owned it. We assumed it was acquired for the old handling collection.'

2004-12-31