Antique Chinese bronze pressing iron used for ironing silk. Wooden handle. 

Size: 8 x 5 x3 1/2 in. 

#2943 #15 . 

The earliest known people to use hot metal for ironing clothing were the Chinese. Pans filled with hot coals were pressed over tightly stretched cloth over a thousand years ago, according to written records from the Chen Dynasty. At the same time in Northern Europe (roughly the late 6th Century) most people were using stones, glass and wood for smoothing, but did not incorporate heat into the process. In fact, ironing of this manner continued in most of Europe up into the mid-19th Century, long after Western blacksmiths started to forge smoothing irons in the late Middle Ages. There is no agreed upon theory as to why it took so long for Europe to appreciate the use of heat and steam in ironing, especially since there are records from Christian missionaries and others recording the process abroad, but it was likely a combination of superstition, xenophobia, and lack of motivation to innovate a process which had been in place for thousands of years. By this time, the Chinese had developed numerous styles of irons, particularly making small handheld versions with a shallow base that allowed for limiting the heat through the amount of coals added in. Pan irons could be simple or highly decorative, and it may have been the fact that the style became fashionable thanks to importation that the pressing iron finally caught on in the West.