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Auction Wally
Auctions and Antiques ExaminerAuctionWally has been an auctioneer and appraiser for 25 years. He runs an antiques appraisal blog where he writes about the value of antiques and how to sell them. You can find him at www.auctionwally.com.
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What the Heck is This?! Very Unusual Item Baffles Auctionwally
3 comments
by Auction Wally, Auctions and Antiques Examiner
To get my Weird on this week, I've sort of recycled a post for a mystery item that is Weird indeed. So unusual and weird in fact, that I've had it posted since February of 08, at Auctionwally.com and no one can has been able to tell me what it is yet. Can you?
This article may look familiar to some of you, I refreshed the date on this article and republished it.
This article was originally posted February 27th of 2008, on Auctionwally.com and no one has been able to tell me what this item is yet, can you?
Below is the original appraisal request and my reply.
Diane and Bob ask:
Hi Wally,
Thank you for the prompt appraisal on our Japanese Urn. We had no idea that
it was quite that old.
This particular item is more or less a curiosity. My mother purchased it in
an antique store 60 years ago in Chicago. However, all she can remember
about it is that it had something to do with poison.... It has some weight
to it so, despite the fact that it doesn't tarnish, it could be brass or
perhaps some metal alloy. It's probably made from a mold. The details are
quite intricate. The two pieces fit together extremely well so that when
the 'treasure box' is inserted there is no wobble and it is as one piece.
The dimensions are as follows:
Total Length: 12"
Treasure box piece: 4 1/4" in length
Dragon piece: 8" in length
Width of treasure box at widest point: 3"
Width of dragon at widest point: 1"
AW says: ...duh,
I have to admit, I'm stumped on this one. So like any good auctioneer I feel I should exploit that to it's maximum commercial level by asking my readers if they can tell me what this is.
Here are the things I've noticed, it's of very good quality, it has a coat of arms or a crest that would seem to indicate Royalty as well as a Dragon would in many cases. It is much like a poison, but seems much too large to be one.
Good Luck
If you know what this is please email me at auctionwally@auctionwally.com
Thanks for reading.
AW
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