Thank you to everyone who ventured a guess for the November’s What Is It? We stumped you this time since no one was able to correctly identify the object.  The item pictured is a lock. Ancient Egyptian locks employed a prototype of the modern pin-tumbler mechanism; the example above is a 19th Century version. It is operated by a wooden […]

 No one correctly identified the October’s What Is It. It was provided by Sue Connelly of Longmont, Colorado. Sue is an avid collector. This item is called a cannonball sizer.  During the American Civil War, cannon balls were huge spheres of iron and steel ~ at least that is what seems apparent when we view the conical stack of eight […]

 William McLaren of Anchorage, Alaska has come to the rescue again. He tells us, “September’s What Is It is a wrought iron Courting Candle Holder.  These spiral shaped candle holders were popular in the 1600’s to 1800’s, and probably came to the States with German settlers.  The iron bowl attached to the bottom of the spiral holder was used to […]

 Elizabeth Puls of Boulder, Colorado guessed that these objects are hand-held musical instruments, blown by mouth and fingered on various holes drilled into the sides. They are probably made out of gourds, bone, maybe plastic or wood. I think they probably came from South America in origin—Peru, Chile, Ecuador. They could be called “pig whistles” or “whistle-pigs” or “shepherd’s flutes.” […]

 July’s What Is It? appears to be a collection of mid-19th century black-lacquered and hand-painted papier mache boxes according to William McLaren of Alaska. Most appear to be snuff boxes. Portraits of prominent people or landscapes are commonly seen, as are gilded initials and inscriptions.  The portrait box in the top middle is of a shape to hold cheroot (cigars) […]