Local Boy Hits Victorian Pay Dirt at Colonial House!

[Erik in NJ]

Local Boy Digs Amazing Victorian Bridle Rosette at Colonial House!

Got off work a little early today and decided to spend a couple house back at the colonial house that had yielded so much from the last couple hunt.

It started out a bit slow this time, but again didn't let me down with a couple of very nice relics.

The first struck me as very odd when I dug it as I'm not used to digging anything metal with glass attached to it. I thought it was some sort of fancy plug or stopper and dropped it in my finds pouch.

Upon cleaning it up at home, I see that the brass or copper had a nice patina indicating some age probably back to the late 1800s to possible early 1900s. I could see black behind the glass which I figured was simply damage from water. As I sat back and looked at the item I almost fell over when I realized that the "damage" was actually a silvered Gothic-style letter "V" on a black background. But why on Earth would a stopper be monogrammed on the side that you would not see? The metal part with the "handle" appeared to have been gilded at some point, but is mostly worn off. I showed a photo to our resident relic guru--kuger, who immediately realized that this "plug/stopper" was indeed a glass domed bridle rosette! WOW! I have dug some beautiful rosettes before, but this is my first glass domed rosette and having the initial "V" gives me an opportunity to discover who may have owned it and when! The rosette is approx. 1-1/2" in diameter. Thanks again kuger for your sage identification!

The second item was found in a deep plug with about 10 square nails surrounding it. It also had a wood screw through the center of it that I have removed for display. It's a round cover--again about 1-1/2" in diameter depicting what appear to be dragon scales. There are little designs on each scale. A beautiful piece, but I have no idea what it was used for, it's age, or why it was surrounded by so many square nails.

The third item is an enigma. I had found several of these items in England this summer, then dug another back home at an 1800s house. No one could ID it. Then I dug this one on this property. This one is in the best shape of the lot and is the only one with a channel that looks like a belt or rope rode in it. All of them have the three countersunk holes and the central stud. Any help on this item would be appreciated.

It was a short hunt, but I'd have to say that the beautiful rosette was definitely the highlight of the hunt!

Thanks for looking.

 

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[Michiganne]

OK, here ye be Erik. It was the only good find the three of us found at this site, other than wheat pennies, but I think it had been hunted before. I was thrilled, to say the least. When I first unearthed it on the edge of an old flower garden, I thought it was a huge marble or a glass door knob. But as soon as I got it out of the hole and saw the back of it I knew I had my first rosette.

HH,
Michiganne

I'll include a site pic since it was such a pretty place to hunt. The glass is scratched and does not photo well, better in person.

 

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[Erik in NJ]

OK, here ye be Erik. It was the only good find the three of us found at this site, other than wheat pennies, but I think it had been hunted before. I was thrilled, to say the least. When I first unearthed it on the edge of an old flower garden, I thought it was a huge marble or a glass door knob. But as soon as I got it out of the hole and saw the back of it I knew I had my first rosette.

HH,
Michiganne

I'll include a site pic since it was such a pretty place to hunt. The glass is scratched and does not photo well, better in person.

Hi Anne...very pretty glass domed rosette and a real show piece for sure. The glass on mine and the others I have seen are all pretty scratched up. I wonder if there's any way to have the glass polished up a bit. Thanks for posting the photo. Looks like a very tranquil place to detect! My kind of place

 

[Erik in NJ]

The last item is part of an old roller blind (window). I chuck loads of these, but as you can guess I need the space for better items.

That's the rumor, but I have yet to see any provenance of how the thing was actually used. Then there also the fact that they have been found in farm fields and Civil War sites--not saying they couldn't have ended up there, but.... I have found 6 - 8 of them now, here and in England and this is the first one that has a V-groove where I assume a loop of rope or something else can be attached to rotate the theoretical dowel that would be screwed to two of them. So my question is how were these blinds raised and lowered? It would seem somewhat unlikely that they were spring loaded like their modern counterparts, no? Anyone know when spring loaded blinds were patented?

For lack of finding "better items" I guess I'll hang on to mine

 

[CRUSADER]

That's the rumor, but I have yet to see any provenance of how the thing was actually used. Then there also the fact that they have been found in farm fields and Civil War sites--not saying they couldn't have ended up there, but.... I have found 6 - 8 of them now, here and in England and this is the first one that has a V-groove where I assume a loop of rope or something else can be attached to rotate the theoretical dowel that would be screwed to two of them. So my question is how were these blinds raised and lowered? It would seem somewhat unlikely that they were spring loaded like their modern counterparts, no? Anyone know when spring loaded blinds were patented?

For lack of finding "better items" I guess I'll hang on to mine

fine, I like making up ****

 

[wheatfinder13]

Cool button

 

[Erik in NJ]

fine, I like making up ****

Didn't mean to upset your "delicate sensibilities" The theory that they are the ends connected to a dowel for blinds has been bandied about here, but no one has even been able to find a picture showing one in use. And then there's the enigmatic aspect of how were these blinds were raised and lowered. They could well be what you say they are, but it would seem that some definitive evidence is still lacking for a proper ID.

 

[jrwill56]

I found one on a 1803 plantation. The groove on mine was scribes as to aid a chain to run thru it. Maybe a clock weight pulpy

 

[Erik in NJ]

I found one on a 1803 plantation. The groove on mine was scribes as to aid a chain to run thru it. Maybe a clock weight pulpy

How about posting a pic?? What's a pulpy??

 

[jrwill56]

sorry pully,lol

 

[CRUSADER]

Didn't mean to upset your "delicate sensibilities" The theory that they are the ends connected to a dowel for blinds has been bandied about here, but no one has even been able to find a picture showing one in use. And then there's the enigmatic aspect of how were these blinds were raised and lowered. They could well be what you say they are, but it would seem that some definitive evidence is still lacking for a proper ID.

never been called 'delicate'

 

[dsinsc]

Hi Erik Here's a pic of my rosette with the K, couldn't find any pics of the other ones, they're here somewhere but does finding Waldo ring a bell This picture was taken almost 10 years ago and looking back on it, from the other stuff found with it, it could be older than I thought, the seated 1/2 dime is probably the newest thing in the shot and it's an 1860.... Dave