Antique ottoman... ehm... something

[Tim Simmons]

I think this is a bed warmer, using hot water like a hot water bottle, where as European bed warmers used coals and all that servant stuff, a hot pan on a stick. You can find stoneware hot water bottles but I do not think this area has a history of stoneware ceramics, some very fine earthenware mind, I might be horribly wrong.