ous on the sideboard,
although many of the small tables so much treasured now as antiques in
the drawing-room were originally made for urns to stand upon.

There are many beautiful curios of the home made of wood, among them
being such rare gems as wood screens and the frames of hand screens,
some of which screwed on to the ends of the mantelpieces with small
clamps.

[Illustration: FIGS. 31-34.--MEDIAEVAL WOOD NUTCRACKERS.]

[Illustration: FIGS. 35-39.--EARLY STEEL AND BRASS NUTCRACKERS.

(_In the collection of Mr. Charles Evans, of Nailsea Court._)]

V

THE KITCHEN

[Illustration: FIG. 40.--TWO ANTIQUE WARMING PANS.

(_In the Victoria and Albert Museum._)]

[Illustration: FIG. 41.--WELSH KITCHEN FIREPLACE.

(_In the National Museum of Wales._)]

CHAPTER V

THE KITCHEN

The kitchen grate--Boilers and kettles--Grills and
gridirons--Cooking utensils--Warming pans.

It is in the kitchen and the pantry that domestic economy centres. The
very essence of home life is found in the preparation of suitable food
in which to satisfy human appetites. Whether the kitchen is furnished
with apparatus sufficient to cook for the inmates of a large
institution, or with the more modest appliances with which a chop or a
steak can be grilled or a small joint roasted in a gas oven, the basis
of cooking operations is the same, and the cook requires an outfit of
culinary utensils small or large, according to what she has been
accustomed to use or considers necessary for her immediate wants. In
olden time the kitchen was furnished with fewer accessories in
proportion to the meat consumed than at the present time, and the large
hanging caldron and the strong and heavy wrought or cast iron saucepan
on the fire, and the roasting spit and jack in front of it, went a long
way towards completing the outfit. The gradual advance and increase in
the furnishings of the kitchen have been the outcome of development and
progress in culinary art. Since the introduction of scientific cooking
and the establishment of schools of cookery, the hired cook and the
mistress who dons the apron and assumes the role of the economic
housewife have learned to appreciate the use of modern culinary
appliances, lighter in weight and convenient to handle. These differ
according to the purposes for which they are to be used.

Hygienic conditions now regarded as essential have displaced many of the
older cooking pots which have been