A Two Penny Bed-warmer

My last post was about a miniature with a bit of history and this one continues on a similar theme.

This little bed-warmer arrived in the post today. It's 8 cm long and as that's the perfect size for a dolls' house, I'm assuming the that is what it was made for. Here it is hanging from a nail in one of my dolls' house kitchens.

 

What drew me to this little object was the fact that the pan of the bed-warmer is made from two pre-decimal British pennies. They are both dated 1930. I love that!

Being pennies from the 1930s, the inside of the bed-warmer shows the head of King George V (who reigned from 1910 to 1936) on their reverse sides.

It seems appropriate that these pennies have been used because, as I mentioned in my last post, George's queen was Mary of Tek: she of the keen interest in dolls' houses and Queen Mary's Dolls' House.

It's been beautifully made. The handle and hinge are made of brass, as is the little knob on the lid of the pan. The handle, which is soldered to the lower penny or base of the pan, has this lovely embellishment made from what appears to be two interwoven strands of copper, tying in nicely with the copper of the pennies.

The hinge works perfectly and is made from a rod of brass through a hole pierced through the end of the handle. The hinge is soldered to the upper penny or pan lid.

I'm wondering, of course, who made the warming-pan and when.

Intriguingly, there is this tiny impressed mark on the on the end of the handle, next to the hanging ring. It appears to be the letter 'S' with something either side of it. Unfortunately, my internet searching hasn't, thus far, turned up any information on it.

Equally, though we know the age of the coins, I'm completely in the dark as to when they were made into a miniature bed-warmer. 

I've learned that the pre-decimal penny ceased to be legal tender in 1971, and that it's only since The Coinage Act of 1971 that it's been an offence to destroy a metal coin that is current in the UK. Unfortunately, these facts combined mean that the bed-warmer could legally have been made any time in the last ninety-two years!

That said, references to maker's marks on brass seem to indicate that they're seen mainly on antique brass items, and this lovely little object does seem to have some patina of age, so who knows...

Hopefully one day I'll find another piece of the puzzle and all will be revealed!*

Until next time,

Zoe

*Update Added 24th May, 2022

Well, it didn't take long to find another piece of the puzzle! My clever friend Claire has discovered that this lovely item was made by The Stubbington Workshop - see my next post for more information.