Heat sphere
Warming balls , warming apples or hand warmers are metal, portable hollow balls with a heat source inside that were used to warm hands in cold rooms until the 18th century.
construction
Possible materials for heat balls were gold, silver, brass, copper, bronze or iron. Most of the specimens had a perforated, sometimes decorated surface. If there was no air supply for the heat source, the sphere would have no openings; There are, however, examples of heat spheres whose heat source did not require a supply of air and which were nevertheless perforated. The upper half of the balls, which are usually around 12-15 cm in size, could be removed, opened, or - especially with post-medieval specimens - unscrewed.
Inside the ball there is a cardanic suspension secured with floating rings , which holds a small pan with the heat source in a horizontal position so that no spillage is possible. Smoldering charcoal, a glowing metal bolt or a wax candle were suitable as a source of heat, and from the Renaissance on oil or alcohol . Accordingly, the recipient is made as a flat bowl, wire hanger, bowl or - with oil heating - as a closed vessel with a hole for the wick.
Heat balls were made in the same way as normal incense balls.
The classification of documented objects as heat balls is not always easy, as there are many similar objects such as incense balls, reliquary containers, muskrat apples , sealing cord capsules, choir clasps and others. Oriental incense balls, which found their way to Europe since the 14th century, accommodate a cardanic suspension similar to heat balls.
history
Heat balls have come down to us from Europe, Syria and East Asia, with European specimens being the rarest. Most are made of bronze or brass . The oldest surviving object is made of silver . It comes from China and was made in 756 at the latest.
middle Ages
The origin of the heat balls is unclear, in Europe they were probably first used in the church area, where they were known as "pomum". They were used by priests to warm themselves during services before handing out the host . This kept the fingers flexible even in the cold, and the risk of spilling bread and wine was reduced. Apparently the heat balls were lying around loosely on the altar, because a note from 827 reports that a copy was stolen. Since canteens framed by a bulging rim were common from the middle of the 5th to the beginning of the 13th century, there was no risk of them rolling off.
The oldest European source that mentions heat spheres is the 8th century Vita des St. Eligius , the patron saint of goldsmiths, who built a church in Paris “et axes incircuitu throni altaris auro operuit et posuit in eis poma aurea, retundiles atque gemmatas”. Inventory-like registers from Centula Abbey ( Saint-Riquier ) from around 800 and 831 list several “poma altaria”. Further entries from the inventory of the Benedictine abbey of Sint Truiden ( Saint-Trond ) in Belgium (870) and the Cathedral of Clermont (around 990) are uncertain whether they actually refer to heat spheres.
The inventory of Salisbury Cathedral, drawn up in 1214, explicitly mentions the heat function of the pomum as “pomum unum argenteum ad calefaciend” for the first time. manus ”. At the beginning of the 13th century at the latest, plate-shaped bowls appeared to keep the ball securely in place. It is unclear whether they were firmly attached to the heating sphere or whether the latter was just placed in it. The sources that call such a bowl ("scutella") all come from England. From the years 1295, 1322 and 1353 specimens with leather cases are attested; the former came from St Paul's Cathedral in London and had a case. The warmth balls of high-ranking churchmen were particularly artfully decorated - for example with animal reliefs - and enjoyed relic-like veneration after their death. A manuscript from 1257 from Roskilde (Denmark) suggests that the heat spheres were widespread in Europe at the time.
The sources of heat spheres increased in the 14th and 15th centuries. According to a note from Lille , the gimbal required occasional repairs. It also says that there was a separate heat sphere for each individual altar. The oldest piece of news that certainly mentions a heat sphere for secular purposes is the “pume d'argent dorée, pour escoufers ses mains” mentioned in 1305 in the estate of Count Guy of Flanders. Apparently, heat balls were quite widespread among the wealthy (aristocratic) circles of the 14th century, as they were sold by dealers, as can be seen from an estimate list from Avignon from 1360. Heat balls subsequently became a luxury item; At the end of the 14th century, elaborately designed specimens were reported particularly from French courts. In England and Scotland there are also references to heat spheres for secular purposes. A copy mentioned in 1353, the Pope Innocent VI. in Avignon was made of gold enamel. Heat globe and muskrat combinations have also been reported. In this case, the heat also increased the scent development.
Post Middle Ages
In the area around Venice in the course of the 15th century, oriental style heat balls were manufactured and exported in large numbers. Around 1600 there was probably another Italian manufacturing center for heat spheres, as a group of traditional specimens is characterized by a similar style.
From the 16th century onwards, heat balls from Germany that were firmly attached to a stand are attested. At least two or three of the eleven heat balls preserved from the European Middle Ages were provided with a chain so that they could be worn on the wrist or - if there was a ring at the end of the chain - on the finger. It was not until the 17th century that the chain became common.
In the 17th century, thanks to growing prosperity, the heating ball found its way into all classes of the population, making it a simple commodity of less skill. So now brass, copper and sheet iron were used as materials. In Ulrich Baumgartner's Pomeranian art cupboard, which was made between 1611 and 1615, there is a silver, partially gold-plated copy.
In the 18th century, interest in heat spheres was lost. In the church area, vessels filled with hot water, so-called “warming boxes”, were used instead.
Today, modern hand warmers or pocket ovens serve the same purpose as heating balls. The counterpart to the heat balls were the much rarer cooling balls .
literature
- “Heat balls”, in: Eugen von Philippovich, Curiosities / Antiques (pp. 226–232). Klinkhardt & Biermann, Braunschweig 1966
- Günther Schiedlausky, cooling ball and heating apple . Research notebooks of the Bavarian National Museum, Deutscher Kunstverlag 1984, ISBN 3-42200-757-1