chestnut roasters,
and the like, have always served the double purpose of use and ornament.
Among these are warming pans which in modern days have been brought out
of their hiding-places, repolished, and hung up in conspicuous places by
the fireside. In the Victoria and Albert Museum, as well as some of the
provincial museums, there are many very fine examples, those having
dates and names upon them being especially valued. As an instance of an
exceptional specimen in the Victoria and Albert Museum we may mention
one on which there is an engraving of reindeer, ducally gorged, the
inscription upon this pan reading: "THE EARL OF ESSEX. HIS ARMES. 1630."
Another elaborate warming pan is engraved with figures of a cavalier and
a lady, richly embellished with peacocks and flowers. The pan is of
copper, but the handle is of wrought iron with brass ornamental mounts.
Some pans have wooden handles, either walnut or oak, some of the more
modern being ebonized (see Fig. 40).

This brief review of kitchen utensils by no means exhausts the varieties
of old metal work and other curios which may still be found in kitchens.
There appears to be no end to the minor varieties in form and
decoration. This is natural when we remember that years ago kitchen
utensils were not made in quantities after the same pattern as they are
nowadays. They were the product of the local maker, the smith and the
village woodworker being frequently called upon to supply new kitchen
utensils, and it would appear that they did their best to make their
work successful in that the vessels they fashioned were lasting, and
during their use contributed in no small degree towards the
ornamentation of the home.

[Illustration: FIG. 52.--WOODEN PIGGINS AND PORRIDGE BOWL.]

[Illustration: FIG. 53.--WOODEN PLATTER, BOWL, AND SPOONS.

(_In the National Museum of Wales._)]

VI

HOME ORNAMENTS

CHAPTER VI

HOME ORNAMENTS

Mantelpiece ornaments--Vases--Derbyshire spars--Jade or spleen
stone--Wood carvings--Old gilt.

We are apt to wonder sometimes what it is that makes the house homelike,
and why there are such strong attachments to the old home. Surely it is
the familiar aspect of the furnishings, rather than the bricks and
mortar, that makes the old home so dear! To the original owners there
was an individuality about every piece, although to the collector the
same characteristics of well-known objects tell that in days gone by the