Antique Metalware 18thc Down Hearth Iron & Wicker Fire Screen.English.

A very rare surviving example of a late 18thc adjustable fire screen with original attractive woven wickerwork screen....this excellent example would have been used to protect the cook from the heat of the down hearth fire, whose job it was to turn the meat on the spit, which she rotated over fire....very few of these have survived, as they had to be regularly doused with water to stop them from catching fire..!

See Page 59 of " The Cauldron, The Spit & The Fire"  by Robert Deeley for a similar example.

English / Somerset.  C1780-C1800.