Historical information

The fireplace was the main heating source for small houses before 1900, so a bellows to coax a flame from a dying fire was important. Early bellows were a bag made from the skin of a small animal and a piece of metal, usually brass, to direct the gust of air created by squeezing the bellows to fan the flames. Such bellows existed in China at least since the 5th century BC, when it was invented, and had reached Europe by the 16th century. In 240 BC, The ancient Greek inventor Ctesibius of Alexandria independently invented a double-action piston bellow used to lift water from one level to another.

Significance

An item in domestic use in homes to coax a domestic fire into flame, the subject item was probably used in the late 19th to early 20th century home with open fireplaces as a domestic object. It gives a snapshot into how domestic heating was provided using wood or coal before electricity or gas came into regularly used.

Physical description

Bellows wood, leather and metal, parts

Inscriptions & markings

None