Victorian Miniature Stoneware Pig Bottle Bed Warmer c.1900

A rare miniature stoneware pig bottle bed warmer of classic arched form, finished in buff stoneware with rich brown glazed ends and a screw-top stopper. This is a fully realised miniature rather than a toy or later decorative piece, made with the same materials and construction as full-size examples. At this small scale it is unlikely to have been intended for regular domestic use and is very plausibly a late Victorian or Edwardian salesman’s sample, used to demonstrate form, glaze and stopper design to retailers.

Pig bottles were a common household item in the late 19th century and competed on quality and practicality, making physical samples an effective sales tool. The piece has good weight, a pleasing tactile presence and attractive glaze variation, and works equally well as a collectible domestic antique or as a characterful display object.