Any help to identify this item will be greatly appreciated

So I was given this item a long time ago by my grandad.. he used it to keep musket shota he had found metal detecting, the item intrigued me and after translating some of the Swedish on it it turns out to be German made.. I have no idea of its time or use but the Scenes depicted on it are works by the architect Victor Jansson who was the father of the woman who wrote the Moomins, It says on the bottom Victor Jansson bokhandel which I can only assume was some kind of book store.. an

 

Hi Jacob!

Welcome to Antiquers............sorry I'm not of any help, but wait for others to see your post.

 

It has the look of zinc to me. I wonder if it might have been used to make a mold for the production of glass tumblers. Don't know if that's a reasonable idea or not.

@janetpjohn @TallCakes @Cherryhill

 

Vadstena Castle, in Sweden

Web Translator (translatetheweb.com)

Vadstena slott - Bing images

 

Felsenstein und Mainzer were one of the big 5 pewter companies in Nürnberg around 1900. contrary to others they exported a rather big part of their output. result is visible especially on US sites where their Norica (latin for Nürnberg) brand is often found. Norica is in use since 1904.
not unusual to mark for main importers; here it was a rather easy job by adding an additional circle around their normal mark.

 

a very good reference is Jugendstil aus Nürnberg by Claus Pese, Arnoldsche is always a bit more expensive but at the height of the available knowledge.
https://www.google.ch/search?q=juge...=img&ei=dyAlYNKLGpP4a_uWqvgH&bih=535&biw=1184

 

Nürnberg was a hotspot with many smaller brands that are mostly completely unknown outside Europe.

 

yay books....gotta luv books !!!!!

 

The castle was opened in 1620, so I don't think it was designed by Viktor Jansson. This Viktor (spelled with a "k" not a "c") was a sculptor and artist, not an architect, as far as I can see. He was indeed the father of Tove Jansson, who wrote the Moomin books, as you mentioned. This family lived in Finland but were speakers of Swedish.

Victor Janssons Bokhandel apparently existed in Sweden in the early 20th century. Since the sculptor lived in Finland and apparently spelled his first name differently, it doesn't appear that he owned it. There is a postcard published by the bookstore, with an inscription from 1902, that shows a picture of some buildings in Skänninge, a town in Sweden. Unfortunately the place where I found the postcard image is one of those tricky type that make it difficult to download images. Here is a link to the page where I found the image: https://picryl.com/media/brevkort-med-parti-av-skanninge-linkopingsgatan-sedd-osterut-a24ffb