Double-Century-Old Aristocratic Heavy Brass Charcoal Brazier (Umhei / Angithi)

Extraordinary and monumental double-century-old (~200 years) authentic cast brass domestic charcoal brazier and winter hearth warmer (known in traditional Odia and Eastern Indian culture as Umhei, Umehi, or Angithi), cast circa early 19th century (~1820s) by master brass founders. In historic feudal and aristocratic society, prior to modern space heating, affluent zamindars, royal households, and wealthy merchants placed heavy solid brass umheis in their spacious reception salons (Baithak), bedchambers, and courtyards during freezing winter nights. Glowing slow-burning hardwood embers (Katha Angara) were placed in the expansive 12-inch (30.5 cm) hemispherical upper basin, often sprinkled with fragrant sal tree resin (Dhuna), camphor, and dried medicinal herbs to simultaneously warm the chambers, repel insects, and purify the ambient air. Weighing a massive 3.5 kilograms (3,500 grams), the vessel features thick, fire-resistant cast walls with a reinforced rolled fire-rim and twin integral horizontal cast lug handles on the flanks for safe handling with fire-tongs. The basin is elevated upon a hollow cylindrical pedestal column rising from a wide stepped ring base, engineered with an arched rectangular draft ventilation aperture that feeds convection airflow to the burning coals while catching falling sacred ashes (Bhasma) below. Completely extinct and obsolete in contemporary domestic life, surviving authentic double-century-old heavy brass umheis are exceedingly scarce museum treasures. Preserved in remarkable antique condition with natural fire-baked dark charcoal patination and rich aged olive-brass undertones.