Huyze Herkert, morning room: the fire grate and the coal scuttle

Ah, those British Victorians with their morally high standards and their pursuit for conformity! The home became a refuge and at the same time a means of expressing Victorian core values, with the fireplace as its heart – the ultimate symbol of domesticity and the importance of family. It therefore became the norm to have a fireplace in every room, with all the disadvantages that came with it.

Fireplaces were expensive and time-consuming – in a large house, a maid could spend an entire day tending to the fires and lighting. They were inefficient – those standing close to the fire were half roasted, while those farther away were half frozen – and above all, they were dirty. Very dirty. But the British Victorians stubbornly clung to the idea of an open fire, fueled with coal (although steam heat was already being used in America at the time and closed stoves existed in Germany).

I already showed you the fireplace I made for my morning room, but a fireplace also required quite a few accessories – starting with a fire grate to hold the coal.

The grate is made from 2 mm thick heavy chipboard, wooden craft sticks, toothpicks, and jewelry findings (the oval bead with the three stripes comes from my grandmother's collection!). On second thought, after assembling it, I replaced the little angels with a round floral ornament. The coals are grains of Himalayan salt, painted black, with hints of the pinkish-red still showing through here and there to make them look as if they’re glowing.

The next accessory on the list was a coal scuttle. Coal was stored in a coal cellar or, if there wasn’t one, in a shed behind the house. To avoid constantly having to haul coal back and forth, a box with a small supply was kept next to the fireplace, along with a small shovel for scooping the coal into the fire.

The sides and lid of the coal scuttle are once again made from 2 mm thick heavy chipboard. To allow the middle section to bend, I used thinner cardboard for that part. The lid is hand-painted with a parrot. As you’ll notice, this is a recurring theme in my morning room.

I made the hinge from a toothpick and narrow strips of metal foil. The handle and the holder for the scoop are made from jewelry pins and a small gold rod. The scoop itself is assembled from metal foil for the blade, and a wooden dowel with jewelry findings for the handle.

I’m quite pleased with my work although, unfortunately, some glue got into the hinges while assembling the lid of the coal scuttle, so it no longer opens.

Here you can see everything in place by the fireplace, together with a fireplace tool set that I received as a child from my grandmother for my old dollhouse. The fender, which was meant to prevent things like skirts from catching fire, was bought. Maybe I'll replace it someday with a handmade piece of my own.