Antique Scuttles between £0 and £0
A coal scuttle is the fireside container that held a day's fuel beside the hearth, in polished brass or copper, or as a lidded wooden box with its own liner and shovel.
What Are Antique Scuttles?
Almost every title in the category carries the word coal, and two forms dominate what comes up. The first is an open metal vessel in polished brass or copper, often standing on paw feet, sometimes with a swing handle, and frequently sold with the shovel that belongs to it.
The most repeated shape is the helmet: a deep vessel with a rising lip and pouring spout, named in around a fifth of listings and made in both brass and copper. Alongside it sit plainer buckets, bins and hods, which cover a large slice of the metal half. A metal liner is named less often, but it turns up.
The second form is wooden. Purdoniums and lidded coal boxes appear in oak, mahogany, walnut and rosewood, usually with a slide-out liner and shovel inside. A handful are described as cabinets, and one or two work mechanically. The purdonium was a 19th-century refinement, made to keep coal dust out of the room.
Victorian is the single largest date label, and the 1880s is the busiest decade, though a good number are pinned no closer than 19th century. The earliest group is George III copper and brass helmets dated 1800; nothing in the sample runs past 1930. Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau and Aesthetic pieces account for about one title in ten, with painted toleware, japanned steel and cast iron in smaller numbers.
What Sets Them Apart
Completeness does most of the work in the metal half. A brass or copper helmet with its original shovel, and better still a liner too, sits above the same shape sold bare. A few arrive with a full companion set or with fire dogs, and those go further again.
How the metal was worked separates the middle from the top. Hammer-beaten and handbeaten copper, embossed panels, engraved brass, an embossed coat of arms, or copper married to wrought iron all sit well above the plain sheet-metal band that fills the middle of the range. Pieces named to Arts and Crafts, Art Nouveau, the Aesthetic Movement or Gothic Revival cluster in the upper half.
On the wooden branch it comes down to timber and decoration. Plain oak and mahogany boxes anchor the bottom, while inlaid rosewood, pollard oak, ormolu mounts and carved walnut carry purdoniums and freestanding cabinets several times higher. Scale tells as well: large and extra-large examples recur near the top, and so do the occasional pairs.
Retail Price Guide 2026
Typical UK retail prices for scuttles between £0 and £0, calculated from the Sellingantiques database of over a million retail prices indexed since 2003. This retail price guide relies exclusively on Sellingantiques data; no external sources or auction records are used, so the figures do not describe the wider market.
Victorian is the period label used most on Sellingantiques for scuttles, with 19th Century next and the 1880s third.
The Antique Scuttles between £0 and £0 Glossary
- Scuttle
- The general term for a fireside coal container, used in the great majority of these listings.
- Helmet
- The most-named shape in the category: a deep vessel with a rising lip and pouring spout, resembling an upturned helmet.
- Purdonium
- A lidded coal box, usually wooden, with a removable metal liner and its own shovel. Also spelled perdonium.
- Liner
- The loose metal insert that holds the coal inside a box or scuttle, and one of the fittings dealers name when it survives.
- Double lid
- A scuttle with two hinged covers, or two pouring lips, a variant that recurs in the brass group.
- Pollard oak
- Figured oak from a pollarded tree, named on a pair of purdoniums.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a purdonium?
A purdonium is a lidded coal box, usually wooden, fitted with a removable metal liner and its own shovel. The spelling perdonium appears too, and both turn up in listings.
It was a 19th-century refinement on the open scuttle, made to keep coal dust off the hearthrug. Oak and mahogany are the common timbers, with walnut and rosewood on the more decorated examples.
Why are so many called helmet scuttles?
The helmet is a deep vessel with a rising lip and a pouring spout, shaped like an upturned helmet. It's named in about a fifth of listings, which makes it the single most repeated form.
Both brass and copper versions come up in similar numbers. Paw feet and swing handles are recurring details, and a shovel is sometimes included.
How old are most examples?
The dated field runs from 1800 to 1930. Victorian is by far the largest label, with the 1880s the busiest decade, followed by the 1900s and 1890s.
A large number carry no closer date than 19th century, so a good part of the category is placed only within a hundred-year span. The earliest group is George III copper and brass helmets dated to 1800.
Are wooden coal boxes common?
Yes. Boxes and purdoniums together make up roughly a fifth to a quarter of the category, in oak, mahogany, walnut and rosewood.
Most are described with a liner and shovel. A few go further, as freestanding cabinets, one on wheels, and one inlaid rosewood example that changes configuration in use.
Do scuttles come with their shovels?
Often enough that dealers flag it in the title. A shovel is named in a quarter or so of listings, sometimes as the original shovel, and a liner is named in a smaller number.
A handful go further still, arriving with a full companion set of fireside tools or with a pair of fire dogs.
Which materials other than brass and copper turn up?
Painted toleware, japanned steel and cast iron all appear, though in small numbers against the brass and copper that dominate.
One pair of French cast iron scuttles has come through, and a toleware purdonium modelled as a nautilus shell. Silver-plated mounts show up on a couple of oak pieces.