Brass Sailors Document Container UPDATE from Museum

[Breezie]

Below in the last few post are the UPDATES on this brass container. The first one is from a professional Appraiser and the second one is an email from the National Maritime Museum in England.

Well, I don't know exactly where to start, but as Glenda Goodwitch said, the best place to start is at the beginning. I bought this item online sight unseen, and thought it might be a Civil War document holder, but when it arrived and I saw it, I realized I have NO CLUE what it is.
Here's what I can tell you about this container. It is solid very thick brass, looks hand-made, lid is very tight, only mark is RUSSELL, measures 9 inches long and is 2 inches in diameter. I scratched an area inside the lid as shown in one of the pics.
I've been buying/selling antiques & collectibles just about all of my adult life, and every now and then, I end up buying a pig in a poke. Is this a pig? Any help, ideas, and WAGs would be appreciated. Thanks! Breezie

 

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[Breezie]

Re: This may be the next chicken coup egg counter!

Solved: It's an antique Document Holder. I had it appraised by Jeffrey Motsinger. Mr. Motsinger is an accredited appraiser with the International Society of Appraisers (ISA) and shares an extensive reference library with his wife who is also an ISA appraiser. He is a member of "What's It Worth To You" online appraisals.

Below is Mr. Motsinger's appraisal:
It is an all-weather document tube of the type often used by sailors. It seems that not too many of these are still around, I suppose a great many of them were turned in for scrap during the war effort of the 1940s. When they come up for sale, they are usually part of a lot of items from a naval person that include uniforms and such. Not much research has gone into these tubes that I'm aware of. These are not government-issue and the owner had to bring it on their own.

The tube has evidence it once had a label, which could have been an old STP sticker or other non-related label that once graced the tube. Also, the person's name is not inscribed but rather was stamped into the tube via a portable, hand-held stamping set of the kind. The retailer could have stamped the name as a free-with-purchase bonus. If the retailer stamped the name, the label would not have been originally on the tube because of the location. A shipwright would also likely own a stamping set.

There is no sales data for tubes by themselves because they seem to typically come in a collection of other personal items. By itself and with no history, I believe the item would fetch $100 or more at auction. I recommend sending photos and dimensions to the museum for their opinion on it and showing to any local military collectors or experts.

Thanks Gang! I appreciate all of your help and ideas. We TNet folks work hard to help others ID items, but sometimes we get stumped, so have to use other sources. In these cases, I'd recommend 'What's It Worth To You,' which is an online appraisal company. I have used them 4 different times on items like this one where a positive ID could not be made. Breezie

PS: Does anyone have an old STP sticker they could use to take measurements so I can compare with the sticker area?

 

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[Bramblefind]

Re: This may be the next chicken coup egg counter! SOLVED!

That is a great id! And a good buy

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Re: This may be the next chicken coup egg counter!

Judging by all of the pictures I've seen/googled, the one that matches it the best is the sailor's document holder from the Nat. Maritime Museum. Breezie

You were leaning in that direction. Interesting theory that the label was placed on after it was stamped.

Here is an STP oval sticker. You maybe could enlarge it and cut it out to see if it fits. I used to put STP in my old engines.

 

[Breezie]

Re: This may be the next chicken coup egg counter!

Judging by all of the pictures I've seen/googled, the one that matches it the best is the sailor's document holder from the Nat. Maritime Museum. Breezie

You were leaning in that direction. Interesting theory that the label was placed on after it was stamped.

Here is an STP oval sticker. You maybe could enlarge it and cut it out to see if it fits. I used to put STP in my old engines.

BCH, the pic of the sailors doc. holder was the only pic I could find that looked like this container. As far as the STP (or whatever sticker it was) is concerned, a kid could have put it on there back in the 50s or anytime during its life. As far as that goes, the name RUSSELL could have been added years after it was made, but before the sticker. At least we know now what it is. Thanks again for your help. Breezie

 

[Breezie]

I just received an email from the National Maritime Museum in England:

Thank you for your enquiry, which Sarah passed on to me. I’m glad you enjoy reading our website and that you found my piece on the brass tube of interest. I like the fact that something, that at first glance might seem quite dull can actually hold a wealth of interest and information. Our tube is approximately 8 ½ inches by 2 inches. I’m afraid it’s in a particularly inaccessible case so I was unable to take it out to get more accurate measurements.

I’m interested to hear that you have a similar tube. I understand that they are quite rare – we only have one in our collection. Sailors would keep their papers in all manner of watertight containers, and I’m not sure that these tubes were necessarily mass produced for this purpose. It is likely that it would have been made quickly and easily by someone with simple soldering skills. Ours does not have any markings on it indicating a manufacturer or owner.

Please do let me know if you have any further questions.

Kind regards,
Jenny Wittamore
Assistant Curator

 

[mojjax]

Nice !

 

[stefen]

Great ID