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Originally Posted by kronckew
You'd likely melt the solder they used to stick it together in the 1970's if you tried to heat it, more than ash would fall in your drink. It's a 'ceremonial' piece in the Chinese/Tibetan style made mostly for tourists as a decoration.
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While embers from charcoal or wood can be charged with air to radiate at temperatures that could easily melt that solder. They tend to smolder for hours at much lower temperatures. Additionally they develop a coke caking once let to cool for a few minutes that greatly insulates them. I've no doubt that it would be safe to drop a few embers in that chamber that have been allowed to cake first. As experience with using a similarly constructed samovar I once owned taught me.
Additionally the fluid inside would diffuse a lot of the heat into it (as temperature differentials between substance wants to find a state of equalization). It would really just have a hot spot directly under where the ember rested, which likely would never even have the chance to radiate significantly out to the solder at the edge before the heat of it is sapped off by the fluid inside and more evenly distributed throughout the piece.
I do suspect that such a vessel was never place over an open flame. Also I would think that the any embers placed in it would not have been done so with the intent of heating fluid in it from a cooled state.
What I would think here is that already heated liquid would be poured into the vessel and then caked embers would be placed inside that chamber to keep that liquid at an acceptable temperature for a longer period of time (much in the same way a samovar is ideally used).
I also wouldn't be surprised if a few fresh aromatic herbs or incense were tossed in there as well. The phrase "Why not both?" comes to mind.