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Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
From the collection of Flagstaff Hill Maritime Museum and Village
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Ceramic - Hot water bottle, late 19th - early 20th century

  • There is shine from the glaze below the bottle's shoulders. Discolouration of the clay shows through the clear glaze. The off-round base shows the arched shape of the upper sides of the bottle.

    Bottle laying flat, viewed from base along side towards mouth.

  • Bottle has wide lip around mouth. It has a shiny brown glaze from top to just below the shoulders. The rest of the bottle is a cream colour. The slightly rough texture of the clay can be seen.

    Bottle standing on round base, viewed from side of top

  • The uneven gritty texture and colour of the clay shows through the brown glaze of the mouth and shoulders. The photo shows that the flat side of the bottle is about a sixth of the side of the bottle.

    Bottle standing on round base, viewed from directly above

  • Surface of the base below the dark glaze of the shoulders looks rough and has different colourings, vrom cream to red-brown to holey coloured. The pencilled inscription is visible but indecypherable in places.

    Bottle laying on its rounded side, showing the flat side from top to bottom.

  • The flat side and arched side of the bottle can be seen from the shape of the base. The unglazed clay looks rough and has pits and marks. There are spots of white, rusty brown and crimson colour in places. The handwritten museum registration number is clearly visible.

    Base of the bottle

  • Inscription is handwritten in pencil, indecypherable in places.

    Inscription on flat side of bottle

  • There is shine from the glaze below the bottle's shoulders. Discolouration of the clay shows through the clear glaze. The off-round base shows the arched shape of the upper sides of the bottle.
  • Bottle has wide lip around mouth. It has a shiny brown glaze from top to just below the shoulders. The rest of the bottle is a cream colour. The slightly rough texture of the clay can be seen.
  • The uneven gritty texture and colour of the clay shows through the brown glaze of the mouth and shoulders. The photo shows that the flat side of the bottle is about a sixth of the side of the bottle.
  • Surface of the base below the dark glaze of the shoulders looks rough and has different colourings, vrom cream to red-brown to holey coloured. The pencilled inscription is visible but indecypherable in places.
  • The flat side and arched side of the bottle can be seen from the shape of the base. The unglazed clay looks rough and has pits and marks. There are spots of white, rusty brown and crimson colour in places. The handwritten museum registration number is clearly visible.
  • Inscription is handwritten in pencil, indecypherable in places.

Historical information

This hot water bottle was designed to lay flat in a bed between the sheets. Its purpose was to warm the bed before use. The bottle was filled with hot water then a stopper was placed in the top to seal it, preventing the water from running out.

The inscription on the attached label of this hot water bottle gives both the donor's details and the location of the bottle when it was first displayed at Flagstaff Hill Maritime Village. the "P.M.O." are the initials for the Port Medical Office. The donor's details are also written in pencil on the base of the bottle.

In the 16th-century people warmed their beds with the 'bed warmer', which was a long-handled, metal pan filled with hot coals and embers and covered with a lid. The pan was placed between the bedsheets to warm the bed before the person retired to sleep for the night.

In the early 19th-century earthenware bed warmers came began to be used for the same purpose. They would be filled with hot water and sealed then often wrapped in fabric. The ceramic material would hold the heat for quite some time, without being too hot for the person in bed to also warm their feet as they went off to sleep.
Hot water bottles were later made from glass, copper, brass or tin. Some manufacturers made them into decorative pieces that still had practical use.

In 1903 a patent was taken out for the first rubber hot water bottle, invented by Slavoljub Eduard Penkala, a Croatian engineer.

Significance

This bottle is of historic significance, as an example of personal heating equipment used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Physical description

Hot water bottle, earthenware, pale colour with brown glaze on top over the shoulder and mouth section and clear glaze on the remainder of the sides. The cylindrical bottle tapers to a slightly narrower base. One side of the bottle, about a sixth of the circumference, is flat. The base of the bottle has a handwritten inscription. An inscription was on the paper label originally attached to the bottle.

Inscriptions & markings

Inscription hand written on base of bottle "Mrs K. Rob _ / Browns Rd / Offic / 3 _ _ 9"
Inscription on paper label " "Mrs K Robinson Browns Rd Officer 3809 - Hot water bottle P.M.O."

Subjects

References

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