1. Fuigo (literally blowing leather)

Fuigo

This is a device for producing air blast to blow on the fire used for refining or smelting metal. Primitive form of the device was a leather bag made of hide sewn together and improved versions include an air-tight box with a reciprocating piston within and the one that has similar structure as an organ. Larger models powered by treadle are also referred to as “tatara” or foot bellows.

Our ancestors often used fire for cooking and utilized bellows to keep the fire stable by supplying oxygen.

The manually operated blower was used in American homes and the illustration shows such a bellows by the fireplace.