Brazier

A brazier () is a container used to burn charcoal or other solid fuel for cooking, heating or cultural rituals. It often takes the form of a metal box or bowl with feet. Its elevation helps circulate air, feeding oxygen to the fire. Braziers have been used since ancient times; the Nimrud brazier dates to at least 824 BC.

History

The word brazier is mentioned in the Bible. The Hebrew word for brazier is believed to be of Egyptian origin, suggesting that it was imported from Egypt. The lone reference to it in the Bible being the following verse:

* - the winter palace of King Jehoiakim was heated by a brazier ().

Roman Emperor Jovian was poisoned by the fumes from a brazier in his tent in 364, ending the line of Constantine.

Uses

Heating

Despite risks in burning charcoal on open fires, braziers were widely adopted for domestic heating, particularly and somewhat more safely used (namely in unglazed, shuttered-only buildings) in the Spanish-speaking world. Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxochitl noted that Tezozomoc, the Tlatoani of the Tepanec city of Azcapotzalco, slept between two braziers because he was so old that he produced no natural heat. Nineteenth-century British travellers such as diplomat and scientist Woodbine Parish and the writer Richard Ford, author of ''A Handbook for Travellers in Spain'', state that widely braziers were considered healthier than fireplaces and chimneys.

The brazier could sit in the open in a large room; often it was incorporated into furniture. Many cultures developed their own variants of a low table, with a heat source underneath and blankets to capture the warmth: the ''kotatsu'' in Japan, the ''korsi'' in Iran, the ''sandali'' in Afghanistan, and the foot stove in northern Europe. In Spain the ''brasero

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