Black Coffin Shaped Tin (military?)

This reminds me of the 17 mysterious miniature coffins found in Edinburgh in 1836, these are five of them:

https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-c...archaeology/mystery-of-the-miniature-coffins/

 

https://www.alamy.de/stockfoto-meme...eum-schnutgen-koln-deutschland-177402672.html

https://picclick.de/Memento-Mori-Skelett-Sensemann-Tod-Tödlein-Sarg-Reise-173365306532.html

 

@Fid were you able to change your name? That could be something for @i need help.

 

I hate to suggest an unromantic possibility but some machine tooling can be very expensive and back in 20th C was sometimes stored in individual metal boxes, sometimes lined with wood. The boxes I’ve seen all US-made, were all square or rectangular, but “you never know.”

 

OPs piece looks more mass produced and cold compared to the ones being posted. Plain black paint, no liner. It doesn't feel like it's meant for remains or to memorialize something. Lots of wear too. Doesn't seem like it was just sitting around or on display.

 

Perhaps I’m confused but I thought OP was reposting photos from an Eboo auction, the auction number posted. If so only one item is posted. Right? Rong?

 

Absolutely right.

The miniature coffins I posted and the links Fid posted are just that, miniature coffins. So not tins.

 

? I just said the original posters item does not compare to what others are posting or talking about in this thread. They are all interesting items though.

 

yep. feeling like reborn.

 

Yeh Kronos I totally agree this doesn’t resemble a coffin in material or because of the latches/loops on it. It’s more something novelty coffin shaped.

Anything oldish would have been sympathetically made of wood I’d assume.

Just going to be one of those where you can’t know without having the original item that fit it

 

I can't think of any tool that would fit.
Ozzy Osbourne's sandwich box from his schooldays ?

 

I'm still leaning towards the little coffin with the pop-up skeleton that I saw on Ebay about 10yrs ago .. you flipped the lid and the skeleton sat bolt upright .. just sayin' and I won't say it again !! haha ... Joy.

 

Another thought is that the coffin shape works very well as a container for things that happen to fit it; there are coffin-shaped violin and mandolin cases, for example. It may be that this was a case for something that just happened to need a case of that shape. A set of jeweler's or clock-maker's tools, but there could be many other possibilities.
The inner tray makes me think this was something necessary and important, and useful, to the person that owned it.

 

But it's only about 6" long and 1-2" wide .. too small for those items ... Joy.

 

Just suggesting some possibilities; and some jeweler's and clockmaker's tools are very small; but what I mean is that the inner tray, and the quality of construction, make me think this was made for storage of something useful, not purely decorative, and there are a great many things that could fit a coffin-shaped case; almost anything that is wide near one end, and narrow at the other. And given the tray, perhaps a set of two or more similar items. Spare nibs for drafting pens, might be another thought.

 

That did very well. I was also considering bidding, and didn't because of the shipping cost. As it happens, it didn't matter: any bid of mine would have been blown out of the water.

I think the box has too many latches to be for storing things like tools. It was meant to close very securely. It might be a pet coffin for something like like a canary.

Too bad we can't see who bought it. Hopefully they know what it is.

 

Peter May writes mysteries and he wrote one called the Coffin Road.