🥇 BANNER Colonial Silver Pomander

[toasted]

Walked onto the site turned on the F22 and started swinging. This was in my first hole. I don't know what it is yet but I'm pretty sure it's old, silver and hand engraved. I'm sure someone can tell me what it is pretty quick. I can't complain about my silver coin drought with finds like this one though

EDIT: This has been identified. It's called a Pomander and here is a link to more info and a similar piece

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomander

https://books.google.com/books?id=p...page&q=pomander drake collection pear&f=false

 

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[UnderMiner]

Very unique little trinket! Maybe it's a secret message holder from the Civil War.
The bottom is meant to ring like a bell so as to fool people into thinking that's all it is.
Clearly the top sections are secret compartments. You may have discovered a previously unknown piece of American espionage history.
The existence of such trinkets certainly would have been kept tip-top secret.
If not from US or Confederate espionage it may have belonged to some spy operating at a later time.
Very unique, so many questions...

 

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[Erik in NJ]

I
It could be some ... thing off of a chatelaine. They had all sorts of weird attachments.

I believe iloveshinythings is on to something with the chatelaine! This item could date as early as 1800 based on that and the hand engraving. Let me be the first to recognize this as a Banner Find! Vote cast.

 

[McClod]

I've never seen anything like it. Awesome find, congrats!!!

 

[cjon455]

very interesting piece whatever it is I like it!

 

[RelicMedic]

Alright I think I've got it now. I believe it's a pomander, probably Georgian. The compartments would be used to hold different spices, with the most prominent spice being at the bottom where the holes are to give off a pleasant aroma. Women in the Georgian Era were bulked up with heavy dresses and undergarments that would tend to get smelly, so they would combat the stench with spices and flower petals in a pomander. BANNER!!!

 

[toasted]

So this thing probably pre dates the civil war and is possibly colonial. Sweet��

 

[Argentium]

Seems like there ought to be some tiny hallmarks there somewhere - I would get a good magnifying glass and an intense light
and really try to locate hallmarks - then you can pin down date and country of origin .

 

[OutdoorAdv]

This thing.... whatever it is, is pretty cool. I googled "pomander" and that seems like a likely ID. I would think maybe there would be hallmarks in the inside of the top lid. Looking forward to seeing what this ends up being. Definitely a really awesome find.

 

[Erik in NJ]

Women in the Georgian Era were bulked up with heavy dresses and undergarments that would tend to get smelly, so they would combat the stench with spices and flower petals in a pomander.

UPDATE: I too just Googled "pomander" and I agree that you have correctly IDed () the item which is most likely of Colonial origins! I knew it was a Banner Find when I first saw it -- it just had a "feel" of something old and special.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomander

 

[Davers]

A VERY COOL Piece indeed.

 

[Davers]

UPDATE: I too just Googled "pomander" and I agree that you have correctly IDed () the item which is most likely of Colonial origins! I knew it was a Banner Find when I first saw it -- it just had a "feel" of something old and special.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomander

Sounds Right to me ...Thx for the link , I would never have guessed that.
Banner Piece !

Just shows you never know what U might dig up.

 

[toasted]

Still havnt found any hallmarks or makers marks on it or any pictures online of pomanders similar to it. Most seem to be more spherical in shape and some are only Victorian in age. Also the longer I look at it, it appears to have been originally gilded or just some tarnish forming perhaps. Still very happy to have it though

 

[RelicMedic]

I looked at hundreds of pictures and I found one similar to yours. It was silver, ornate, similar design and had no visible hallmarks. It's a museum piece and dated as Georgian Era. I'll try to find it again, but it may take me a couple of days. The wifes family is here and we have a wedding to do.

 

[OWK]

If it had only one chamber, your piece would be called a nutmeg grater. With multiple chambers, it becomes a pomander.

Looks to be coin silver. The engraving looks pretty early, but I'd need a few better pictures to try to draw any conclusions. It is almost certainly 18th century, but I'd need to examine it more closely to know for certain.

The fact that it is unmarked makes it very likely that the piece is American. That makes it very special indeed. May I ask where (in rough geographic terms) you found it? That might help me give you a little more detail.

 

[fever87]

Dang it - y'all beat me to it! I had a dear grandmother who gave me a pomander years ago and never thought that random tidbit of knowledge would ever come up again. I guess I should check this site more than once a day. Congrats on the great find!!

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Nice silver item, hope it is a museum piece. Congrats!

 

[Trezurehunter]

That's a great little piece. I have been on a bit of a silver drought also, but the relics I have been digging are more than making up for it.

 

[qaela4]

Awesome find, that thing is sweeeeeeeet. I hope you can nail down the right dating and ID. Congratulations.

 

[toasted]

I looked at hundreds of pictures and I found one similar to yours. It was silver, ornate, similar design and had no visible hallmarks. It's a museum piece and dated as Georgian Era. I'll try to find it again, but it may take me a couple of days. The wifes family is here and we have a wedding to do.

Was it American or european?

 

[Brother Al]

Was it American or european?

Googled silver pomander images this one is similar
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