This was brought to me by a co-worker who found it at a yard sale or flea market.
It’s made of copper, and is 5 and ¼ inches by 2 inches by 1 and ½ inches deep.
We know nothing about it and just want to know if it is old, is it worth anything and
Maybe where it originated from.
I put this on a web site called Treasure net where I place pictures of things I find metal detecting.
I have had lots of feedback and still know very little about it.
Below is one of many of the types of responses that I have gotten.
I guess my question to you is do you agree with this comment.
I have no Idea if you can tell me anything, But I have run out of places to go and just thought I would give you a try.
Thank you very much for any help you can give me.
I asked a Russian colleague for his opinion. Here is his response.
Hi
Mike. By style this is definitely Eastern Europe or Russia, as the
costumes are very similar to Russian fashions of 16th century. I would
dare to say it can be a writing tools box, or really an eyeglasses box.
The theme on it is capturing of some possibly Russian city (by
architecture though it is simplified but resembles the style used on
the icons of that time). The scenes depict burning houses, looting,
killing of the locals and mass execution. As soon as the captors also
look Russians it may well be the memory of capturing the city of
Novgorod by the troops of Ivan the Terrible, as Novgorod was an old
democratic state, member of Hanseatic League, and Ivan was trying to
have it overtaken by Moscow rule, Novgorodians were resisting
vigorously despite the famine within the city walls, but Moscow army at
the end took over. A lot of people were executed (practically all
local elite, "patricians"), about 10,000 left to die starving and the
rest taken out of the city and re-settled deep into Russia in the city
of Khlynov, where they live till today and speak the same dialect as
Muscovites (same tribe of Vyatich). Khlynov was renamed into Vyatka by
Katherine the Great (18th century), as its name was sounding
"rebelliously" , and then renamed by Communists into Kirov, in 1935 in
memory of Leningrad's Party leader, apparently killed at Stalin's
demand. Now it is Vyatka again, some 800 km East from Moscow. I would
date the box at 2nd half of 16th century.
The name of the owner
is rather French, but Novgorod had a lot of foreigners living there, so
maybe one of them ordered this box made as a memory of the disaster.
The style of the bronze work itself is pretty consistent with the other
Russian artefacts of the period I had in the past.
My
colleague suggests that if you are selling the item, you would be
better to use a top-end auction house as it is of museum quality.
