✅ SOLVED Unidentified box with hinged brass top

[popeye2005]

We picked this item up from an estate sale from an elderly couple and have no history of it. We are hoping someone might be able to identify what it is. It almost looks like a (smallish) writing desk since the top surface is flat and it is angled. The contents are somewhat puzzling as well. Perhaps the tray inside is some sort of oil lamp? I could find no identifying markings of any kind on either the brass top, wooden structure, handles, or the aluminum or tin tray within.

Any help is appreciated, thank you!



Sorry some are upside-down!

 

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[Anduril]

Well, don't see that everyday.

Maybe it's a contraption to assist in fermentation?
Mushroom starter? Sprouts? Cigar humidor? I honestly don't know.

To me, the clues are:
Air holes in the side of the box.
Slanted lid.
Interior tray having a lip, instead of just a flat tray (as if to catch or collect something?)
A removable center tray (circular) lid, with some sort of nipple or spout (what goes in or out?!)
And handles on the tray to carefully lift it out of the box.

 

[tamrock]

Cigar humidor is my first thought ?? Holes in the side make no sense to that idea. Maybe a small dry ice cooler ??. I was diffidently designed for some unique purpose

 

[popeye2005]

Thank you for the thoughtful ideas. Still trying to figure it out!

Could it be a travel writing desk with oil lamp? Lip on the removable tray to catch spilled oil?? Or isolate oil from any stationery stored beneath it?

 

[Gumba143]

What if it were some type of old incense box?

 

[Hawks88]

Travellers desk with ink well.

 

[Roger Mn.]

I think it is a outside mouse trap .Made to keep pets out.
Put the poison bait inside the round tin . Take off the round lid.
The mice go into the 2 holes and and fall dead on the tray.
It might be a roach motel.

 

[popeye2005]

Travellers desk with ink well.

This sure seems plausible...

I wonder how old that would make it...1800s probably?

 

[Duckshot]

If its aluminium it was probably made after 1900.

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

Aluminium wasn't even isolated as a metal 'till 1824. It wasn't really mass produced until the 1880's.

 

[anniegygtn]

This is really interesting. I wonder, with the copper lid, if the burner was meant to be lit inside the box, the holes providing air and the burner warming the top. But for what purpose? Possibly as a work surface for etching plates? Some wax process? What a great piece to ponder on. Thanks for posting.

 

[popeye2005]

If its aluminium it was probably made after 1900.

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

Aluminium wasn't even isolated as a metal 'till 1824. It wasn't really mass produced until the 1880's.

I can't say for sure that it's aluminum--could be tin.

 

[DCMatt]

The slanted metal top and holes in the sides say "foot-stove" or "carriage warmer" to me. Turn of the 20th C.

But I don't know about the round container in the middle. Also it doesn't look as though it ever had any high heat in it.

Never used?

 

[anniegygtn]

The slanted metal top and holes in the sides say "foot-stove" or "carriage warmer" to me. Turn of the 20th C.

But I don't know about the round container in the middle. Also it doesn't look as though it ever had any high heat in it.

Never used?

I like this idea. Could be that the inside of the lid had been cleaned. I think the round container was a simple burner with a cloth wick and the tray was to catch any spills and/or hold warming stones.

 

[popeye2005]

Really thoughtful suggestions from all of you! This has given us alot to think about. The foot warmer idea is intriguing. It is possible that it was once owned by a man who delivered ice for a living, if that sheds any additional light or gives ideas.

 

[uglymailman]

I like this thread. My first thought was an instrument to measure humidity. But then I saw the spout/wick holder if it's a foot warmer. Might not need be for carriage or buggy, could be for the home and used oil instead of kerosene. The mouse trap makes sense too. They go in but don't go out. Some pretty good ideas.
Does it have one outside handle or two? If it's only one does it then have to hang on it? Looking for function vertically is past me. If it has 2 handles on the outside, then it would probably be carried by them. Thanks for the post, it's been fun. Good luck.

 

[CaptEsteban]

I say it is an oil fueled foot warmer.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/291622...FqDSarmjBAjLMCw3zk6Phez5a79ScGghoCvccQAvD_BwE

 

[Roger Mn.]

I now think it to be a Vintage car foot warmer worth $134.00

https://www.etsy.com/listing/471975514/vintage-grenaut-car-foot-warmer?ref=sold_out-2

 

[Plumbata]

Yep, a foot warmer. Looks like one made to be fueled by oil (possibly kerosene), though the reservoir looks prone to leakage if filled with a low-viscosity fuel.

 

[River Rat]

Plus a whole bunch more... https://www.google.com/search?q=vin...e02cTaAhUG7oMKHbVHAQwQsAQIRg&biw=1402&bih=628

 

[highnam]

Fantastic opening post. Great pics and description.
This is what, what is it, is all about. Congrats on the I.D.