Unseasonable appliance

The lovely lady in the antique shop demonstrates the use of a curious item that caught my eye: a shallow curved copper receptacle with a water-tight screw-on lid. It's a stomach warmer! Ideal for winter journeys, tucked under your cape to retain the heat, or for relieving stomach cramps when you're shivering in a chilly bedroom, or simply for the sick or elderly who feel the cold draughts in their entrails.

These 'hydropathic appliances' were in use into the 20th century. This one is stamped with the manufacturer's mark M. Wright, Matlock Bank and a couple very similar can be seen by scrolling down to the end here although the prices are a sight higher than this one, on offer at £45.

(Naturally the search term brought up numerous references to gastronomic or alcoholic belly warmers or else cosy flannel belts and knitted tubes for the midriff but I did light upon the fact that, because their body temperature is supposedly higher than that of other breeds, the Chinese Crested Dog was said to have been once used as a stomach warmer to drive out sickness or evil. Others of us use our cats.)