Featured Vintage Chinese...Lamps?

Hi everyone! The Marshall House is back with some cool items!

The two pieces (pointed to with red arrows) are on display in the Marshall's library. They are of Chinese influence and were owned by George Marshall. We'd like to know what they are! Our curator is guessing they are lamps of some sort.

They are brass with a central opening in the middle of the removable top. There are four small "handles" on each piece and etchings of Chinese buildings and landscapes on the sides. There is also a large hole in the stand on each, as seen in the photo.

We don't know when they were made because Marshall could've bought them during the 1940s, but they could be older. Could a glass covering go in the hole on top?

Any guesses are welcome! Thanks!

 

I think they are incense burners. Youd put a charcoal tablet or candle in the cutout Im guessing.

 

Mongolian "hot pot" cookers.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/535801...MInJ_PyKzp1gIVlFx-Ch0YEQTMEAQYBCABEgKYXvD_BwE

 

WOW that was fast!! We will run with this info and see what else we can get to update our item book. Thank you!

 

You're welcome! I knew they were for "hot pot" but couldn't remember what "country." Started with Korea and worked my way west.

 

Hi,
Made me very hungry. 30 years ago a Japanese friend came to visit. He took us to a Mongolian restaurant in Chinatown, so small no signage. A real hole in the wall. Surprised to find out we had to cook the meal ourselves. Platters of beef which we cooked on those hotpots and ate on lettuce leaves. Between the cooking and the conversations it was a wonderful meal. I looked for the restaurant a few months later, could not find it. Tried a Mongolian restaurant a few years ago. Ordered the hot pot a woman did the cooking all at once meat was done in 10 mins and 15 mins later we were escorted out. It was expensive and very hurried. I hated it
greg

 

Signs would've sucked anyway.

 

Welcome back Marshall House.
I thought they were 'steamboats', used in China and parts of east Asia:

 

As others have said, they're called hotpots or steamboats (my family, we called them 'steamboats'). In Japan, I think they're called Nabe or something like that (actually, I think 'nabe' is the food INSIDE the pot).

You chuck charcoal down the chimney and set the thing on fire. The ash drops down the bottom into the pan underneath. Occasionally, you chuck another piece of coal in the top to keep it ticking over. Once it's going strong, then you fill the bowl with broth or soup or water or whatever. Once it's hot and bubbly, you chuck in noodles, dumplings, fishcakes, prawns, meat, etc etc etc etc. Cook it all up...

NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM!!!!

It's a BIG tradition all around Asia, especially SE Asia, China, and Japan.

I grew up eating out of one of these. It's a lot of fun to cook with!

 

I couldn't remember steamboats from any of the Mongolian info I had, although there is some Chinese influence in their cuisine. So I checked Mongolian food sites, I can't find any reference to steamboats in traditional Mongolian food preparation.
Maybe they just introduced it in Mongolian restaurants in the west. I know our local 'Mongolian' restaurants hardly serve any Mongolian food, mostly Chinese.
This is the traditional pot for Mongolian hot pot (can have more partitions), but a steamboat is more spectacular for restaurant presentation: