We’re sorry to report that we had no correct guesses for our November What Is It. This beautiful item is a samovar.  What is a samovar? Webster’s defines it as a metal urn used by Russians for heating water for tea. The samovar often was decorative in design and included a dispenser for the hot water. Depression-era glass companies took […]

 Our correct guesses for our October’s What Is It include one from Christine Green of Westminster, Colorado. She writes, “My guess is it’s a foot stool and has a fur foot warmer to put your feet in to warm them. Back in those days it wsn’t very warm in the houses. Thank you and I so enjoy your paper.” Annette […]

We had three correct answers for our September’s What Is It. Yes, it is Scrimshaw. This particular example is Scrimshaw of Honolulu Fort ca 1820 – 1840. Roger B. Wilschke of Denver, Colorado said, “This is a good example of a scrimshawed whale tooth probably 300 years old.” Jerome McLaren of Conifer, Colorado adds, “It was created by a sailor […]

 We had several correct answers to our August’s What Is It. The objects, pictured above, are needlecases. These are all late-19th Century needlecases. They include: a wooden carved fish, fluted silver; wood topped with silver, carved ivory; Irish milk glass with English oak leaves and acorns; and a chased silver case that stores needles in compartments graded according to size. […]

 Almost everyone of our guesses for the July What Is It identified the object as a desk ink blotter. Our source said it is a paper weight. This particular one has had an outdoor working life. It is six-inch cast-iron engraved weight used to anchor newspapers at a kiosk in New York. Decorative weights like this one are still in use […]