Can Anyone Identify This?

[zippy-kat]

Here's the bkgrd info:

My grandpa gave me this 'thing' a few years ago. He wasn't even sure what it is! Whatever it is, it has been in the family as long as he can remember (and he's 92+yrs old).

The top is wood, the base is metal. There's no writing of anykind anywhere. The top 'pier' has 5 holes, the bottom 'pier' has 9. The holes are big enough to hold pencils/pens. (possibly pipes?) Can't tell if the wood is red or if it's the finish on it.

Any ideas?


Side view



Top view



Bottom View

[Pam]

Zippy, I have no idea but it sure looks like it is an antique and probably worth some $$! My mom watches a TV show called Antique Road Show and it looks like something you'd see on there! I would check with a local antique dealer and see what they say. Let us know because now we're curious!

[Logan]

That's exactly what I thought of, Pam, Antique Road Show. They'd know!! Good luck, Tonya. I'll be curious to hear what you find out too.

Logan

[jackiesdaisy1935]

At first I thought it was a pepper mill, but guess not. Wow, we all think alike, I love the Antique Road show, watch it whenever its on. Now you got us all curious, have to know what it is!!!!!!!!
Jackie

[Karen]

The base of it looks like a lamp base, and even has a hole where one could put a cord through, but the top has me confused! It looks like there may have been another piece that fits into those holes, perhaps? Because the base looks too heavy, too much "built for stability" and too ornate to just have that small wooden section above it ...

[gini]

I agree with Karen that the base looks like it was originally a lamp base. It looks old enough to be an oil lamp base.

It looks as though the top was created for a specific use in some profession. It could have held quills, vials??

Antique Roadshow - boy, talk about another addiction aside from Pet Talk. Don't you just love that show?

[zippy-kat]

Originally posted by Karen:
The base of it looks like a lamp base, and even has a hole where one could put a cord through...

I'm not sure if it's a lamp base or not. The holes don't run completely through; they are exactly 1.5 inches deep!

Phred gave me an idea, I'm going to take it back to skewl with me and see if the museum ppl know anything about it.

Antique Roadshow?! Mom and I love to watch that show!

[Karen]

I meant the metal part, not the wooden part. I don't think it was meant to hold pencils or quills, no one would a base that heavy to hold pencils! And if it were quills or vials of something, you can be sure there'd be ink or chemical stains on the wood.

Do the wooden pieces turn at all? And what soft of professions did your great-grandparents on that side have?

[gini]

Tonya, just for the fun, I logged onto www.antiqueroadshow.com and I didn't spend a lot of time there, but I bet you could download your picture to them and get an appraisal and your answer.

Worth a try, if it works. Also looks like a fun site.

Saturday calls with many errands, bye!

[zippy-kat]

Originally posted by Karen:
I meant the metal part, not the wooden part. Ok gotcha!

Do the wooden pieces turn at all? nope! In the bottom pic you can see the screw--that sucker's in there tight! lol

And what soft of professions did your great-grandparents on that side have?

Grandpa's fater owned a grist mill. He was sort of a jack of all trades--blacksmith, carpenter, etc. Alot of times customers traded 'things' in return for service. Grandpa's house is chock full of antiques--some of which he doesn't even know how he got!

Also, Grandpa's house was the first built in the valley. It served as a hotel/motel/stopping point between two communities. The bottom portion of the house is over 130yrs old. They then built an upstairs/attic and another kitchen a bit later. (If I remember right, at one time there were two kitchens and 6 bedrooms.) The state road tore down the barn when road construction began.

Another interesting tidbit, Grandpa was doing a few repairs one time and took down a board. On the back of the board was a name "Johnson" and it was dated 1890 (I think--18something anyway).

[Karen]

You can tell you're in the West - our house was built, theoretically, aroung 1890, and isn't even considered particularly old for this neck of the woods.

My parents' house is far older than that, probably about 150-200 years old, I'll ask Dad. When I was a kid, they had the house insulated and discovered in the process that the northeast corner post was a tree trunk, just planed on two sides, with the bark still on the rest of it!

For the heck of it, I'll ask Dad when I see him if he has any ideas what your "thing" is!

[lizbud]

WOW, the pictures and question is really
interesting..My guess would be a pipe stand;
but I really don't have a clue.Is there any
'smell' in the wood ? Also, are there any
ingraved or stamped dates or names on the
wood or the metal stand part?
Very interesting...

[Gepansy]

I remember when Grandpa gave that to you.
I know this is off subject, but I also remember when we would go to his house he would give you the newspaper comics and me candy!

[zippy-kat]

Originally posted by Karen:
You can tell you're in the West -

Karen, we're originally from WV! Yup, I'm a transplanted hillbilly! lol Grandpa and a few other family members still live back there. (We're considering going back this summer--hoping it's during the time of the OH PetTalk gathering!)
Wow! Your parent's house sounds really neat! Is their house put together with the square nails? Grandpa's is--I thought that was pretty nifty! His house is still pretty
old fashioned; no running water--gotta pump it (and yes, ya gotta use the outhouse! ) Thanks in advance for checkin' with your dad!

Gini~ Thanks for the link! I just glanced at it earlier--gonna go back in a few and see if there's a way to send them the photos!

Lizbud~ Nope. No smell, no engraved areas, no names, no dates. lol This is gettin' more and more peculiar/interesting!

Maybe I should just set it on the coffee table as a conversation piece! lol

[gini]

Hi, back home again!

You sure have all of our curiousity up!

I just love very old homes. My relatives in Upper State New York all had no indoor plumbing, a pump in the kitchen and YES, the wonderful outdoor outhouse. And my Grandmother had the indoor "potty" and the cupboard it went in. I was really small, but I always wondered "what she did with it".

Just part of growing up on the farm and some of my most favorite memories.