Thread: My replica 16th Century towel heater

On the front right side of this roughly 1560s woodcut of a barbershop you can see a globe with holes in the bottom and a towel draped over it. While it is impossible to be certain now, it is pretty obvious that it is some sort of a towel warmer.
I was planning on purchasing two larger copper mixing bowls to make a duplicate, but yesterday I happened upon a peculiar planter at Goodwill and it was too good of a deal ($10 as opposed to 40 each for the bowls) to pass up.
After a bit of dremel work and the welding of a hanging support ring for a smaller copper fire-bowl to go underneath it I have a period towel warmer for my barber-chirurgeon kit. We were pretty sure it was going to work, but no where near as well as it does. With the bell over the fire for approximately a minute to heat up, we draped a dripping wet towel over it. The towel was steaming within 30 seconds at almost the perfect temperature.

I think we can call it a success