Featured What the heck do I do with this?

This was included in a recent auction lot, which I wanted for the small (24" x 13") Navajo Two Gray Hills rug that was rolled up in the box.





Inside the tea caddy was this note:



This is like the family photos relegated to auctions, that we all feel bad about.

The caddy is in very well used condition, but who isn't at 175 years old? Does the note add value? Who would care?

(btw, I got the lot for $8.12)

 

Provenance, with such clear evidence of age, is always an asset.

 

Make some tea?

 

keep it as is and maybe one day a tea caddy collector , will need it add it to their collection ..!!!

It's way cool !!!

 

Too bad the bead purse was not part of the lot.

 

Wonder if Grandma married into this family:

http://www.vanvoorhees.org/history.php

 

I was going to say smoke it. I think the note makes it and is as important as the caddy.

 

I thought it said dead mouse :/

 

That's what I would do, Toot Sweet!

 

Hell, list it on eBay for a cheap start include the note & the tea.

 

I have actually found two similar examples of toleware tea caddies dated to the regency period. Is anyone from across the pond familiar with this sort of thing? One shows the same shape, handle and latch mechanism:



https://www.davidduggleby.com/aucti...pn6o4I-LHxXLWxvfi1zDKQvahSZeYM1rVu5NumlZRuMII

And the other shows the same latch and interior divider:


https://davidduggleby.com/auctions/...aJJOztl-OTr_EK82-ePy733wphQqtg8EiPo9cCgcJIl8c

 

Yes. This type of toleware was known in the UK and the Netherlands, but could have been made elsewhere too.
I think yours is indeed Regency period.

If you list it, include the name Voorhees in the title. There are Dutch-Americans who are interested in anything Dutch-American.

 

The real name of the famous American born Taxco silversmith known as Margot de Taxco was Margot Van Voorhies. Could also be related.

 

Don't know in what part of the world you found the caddy but... Here's a Lowe + Voorhees connection in New Jersey.

https://www.ancestry.com/genealogy/records/cora-r-lowe-24-5x744r

Debora

 

Thank you for giving support to the dating. I thought you might be interested in anything "Voorhees" .

 

Very interesting intersection, and within a probable time for the cousins to be interacting. I was hoping you might pursue the genealogy angle. Thank you.

The caddy came through an auction in Wisconsin, but it had clearly been travelling quite a lot over its lifetime.

 

Funny enough the surname Voorhees isn't known overhere. We do have Verhees and van Hees, but those names are southern Dutch, whereas the hamlet of Voorhees is in Drenthe, in the northeast.

 

Can't believe you got anything anywhere these days for $8.12, Wisconsin included !

 

Sometimes it can happen - when no one else is paying attention.

 

To the OP:

"You could make a hat, or a broach, or a pteradactyl" -Airplane