The sad iron and its heater

This is a "sad iron heater." No, that does not mean it's sad, nor does that imply how you feel when you have clothes to iron.

Before electric irons, there were cast iron irons, known as "sad irons." Sad meant solid or heavy, in old English.

There's a page with some interesting detailed history here.

These irons had to be heated up somehow, and one way was on the stovetop using an iron heater.

This heater was made for use on a wood stove; The holes around the edge drew the smoke back into the stove, instead of smoking up the house.

I don't think these were used to cook on, but you can use them to cook on today.