Name/Title
Fireplace Plate WarmerEntry/Object ID
1970.7.1Description
Tin and iron fireplace plate warmer. The object has a black varnish exterior and a tin interior featuring two shelves. The warmer rests on four iron cabriole legs with paw feet. The iron handles are rococo style. The door is hinged and opens to the object’s left side.Use
To heat ceramic tableware, a plate warmer was placed in front of a fire with the uncovered side facing the hearth and allowing hot air to circulate inside while the closed door kept the room’s cooler air from reaching the plates. Once the tableware was heated, removed, and distributed across the dining table, the plates kept food warm longer, elevating the dining experience.
This was especially common during the antebellum period, when enslaved cooks toiling on plantations and large estates often prepared meals in a separate kitchen before carrying them through the open air to the main house. From there, an enslaved cook applied final touches in the warming kitchen before an enslaved butler served the meal to their enslavers in the dining room. While plate warmers improved the dining experience for the white elite, they created additional safety hazards for enslaved cooks and butlers who sought to avoid burning themselves as they removed the tableware from the hot metal structure.Context
In 1844, widow Keziah Goodwyn Hopkins Brevard (1803–1886) inherited two plantations in Richland County from her father, James Hopkins (1774–1884). While she managed both sites—Oldfield Plantation and the newly named Brevard Place—she resided at the latter. By the early 1860s, Keziah enslaved over 209 individuals. Around that same time, Keziah kept a diary, later published as “A Plantation Mistress on the Eve of the Civil War,” which reflected her views on slavery as a necessary evil. Aside from those she enslaved, Keziah managed and lived at Brevard Place alone, aside from a brief period when her half-sister, Sarah Hall (1791–1867)—also a childless widow—lived with her following her release from the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum.
After Keziah’s death in 1868, Brevard Place passed to the daughters of her half-nephew, Governor James Hopkins Adams (1812–1861). In 1903, Caroline Hopkins Adams LeConte (1850–1935) purchased the property at auction. Family lore suggests she renamed it "Alwehav," referencing that it took "all we have" to acquire the property. While the structures no longer stand, the property remains in the hands of descendants and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. According to the donor, a descendant and previous owner of Alwehav, this plate warmer was salvaged from the site.Made/Created
Date made
circa 1800 - circa 1850Dimensions
Height
23 inWidth
13 inDepth
10 inRelationships
Related Places
Place
Location
Alwehav PlantationState/Province
South Carolina
