On lid: "SAM: CLARKE'S // PATENT PYRAMID // FOOD WARMER"; on body: "CLARKE'S // PATENTED PYRAMID // [illeg] LIGHTS 9 HOURS // ARE THE ONLY// LIGHTS SUITABLE FOR THESE LAMPS // PYRAMID // TRADE MARK // (TRADE MARK "FAIRY")
Samuel Clarke’s Patent Pyramid Food Warmer and Night Light. Slogan: ‘When nights are dark then think of Clarke/ Who’s hit the mark precisely./ For his Night-Lights create Light-Nights/ in which you see quite nicely.’
This device could be used to heat a pint of milk, keep food warm or to prepare pap. Flour or bread was mixed with milk diluted with water to make pap, which could be used to wean infants off breast milk. It was used in the nursery for boiling milk (to kill bacteria), keeping food warm or preparing pap. The metal jug was filled with hot water and the ceramic pannikin was placed inside it. The jug was then placed in the stand. To provide heat a lit candle or a tea-light was placed underneath. The device was trade marked by Samuel Clarke as a ‘Pyramid’ food warmer as the different parts stack up like a pyramid.
The jug would have a small metal stand (missing from this object), holding a night light, which heated it from below. Patented by Samuel Clarke, Cricklewood, London, England.
Exhibit History
Canadian Museum of Civilization exhibit: "Caring Profession"; ret. Sept. 2006