Featured 1700's Dutch Wedding box. MMA Replica

I thought this was so cool sitting on a shelf at the G/W. And for about a dollar.
A little over 2 1/2" tall. even gold wash inside.
It is Silver plate, marked MMA on the bottom.

Mikey

 

Nice Score!

 

MMA made these both in silver plate and sterling, the sterling ones are clearly marked "sterling" on the base.

That's a great buy for a dollar!

 

Thanks. The plating is very good quality. Went from black to this in ten minutes. This also has a sticker. Made in Portugal.

 

Great find, Mikey.
It is a copy of a 16th century Frisian 'knottekistje'. Friesland is in the north of the Netherlands. They have their own culture and language.

Before the 16th century Frisians simply 'tied the knot': The groom-to-be would hand the girl of his dreams an embroidered cloth which was rolled up with silver coins inside, and loosely knotted. One of the coins would be a special wedding coin. If the girl accepted his proposal, she would tighten the knot of the cloth, called a 'knottedoek'.
In the 16th century rich Frisians would have a silver box made for the same purpose. Instead of a 'knottedoek' it was called a 'knottekistje' or knottedoosje, meaning a smal knot chest or box. Inside would be the coins. Most girls would shake the knottekistje first, before accepting it. Just checking.
Are the engravings on the side of faith, hope, and charity?

Be sure to google knottekistje for some eye candy.

Portugal made a lot of copies of Dutch silver in the 70s and 80s. Maybe they still do, but I remember my mother being disappointed every time she thought she found a Dutch traditional piece and it turned out to be a recent Portuguese copy.

Embroidered knottedoek with a tree of life symbol, and silver knottekistje:


https://www.friesmuseum.nl/collectie/een-greep-uit-de-collectie/knottedoek-en-knottedoosje

 

Just found a website by someone who had a knottekistje made in 2015 especially bcause he wanted to propose to his girlfriend in traditional Frisian style.
It has the traditional Frisian rhyme the prospective groom would speak when handing over of the box:

Wotte? Sa wotte
Sa heste de knotte
Wost it net dwaen
Den kinst my de knotte werjaen

Do you want to? If you want to
Then you have the knot
If you don't want to do it
You can give the knot back to me

A simple rhyme, but I thought it would be nice for you to know.

 

I'm not sure what they are engravings of but it is very nice. Thank you AJ for the wealth of information you have.
Mikey