Topic: Davidson Hobnail square piece w/ metal frame & handle

[bearcrystal]

I know this is a piece of Davidson Honail c.1890, but I am having trouble figuring out what this piece was originally used for or what it was called. It was suggested that it might be a Spill but I could not find any that had a swing handle like this one. It is 4 1/4" to the side edge & is 2 11/16" by 2 11/16" across.

Thank you in advnce for any & all opions or advice!!   

[Lustrousstone]

Whatever it is, it's a modified pickle http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,55887.0.html.

[bearcrystal]

I saw that post when I was trying to research this piece. There was no lid with this piece when I bought it & I do not think it ever had one.
Do you think it was modified by Davidson?

[Lustrousstone]

No I don't think yours had a lid. It may have been modified by Davidson or on behalf of Davidson at the the request of a wholesaler or retailer or by the wholesaler. The fittings look original (I can see the plaster of Paris "glue"), though they were probably EPNS

[bearcrystal]

I wondered if the frame was originally silver plate.

Thank you for all of your help!!   

[Lustrousstone]

Silver plate seems unlikely. Davidson wasn't that expensive. EPNS = electroplated nickel silver but nickel silver contains no silver

[Bernard C]

Silver plate seems unlikely. Davidson wasn't that expensive.   ...

I disagree.   I might have agreed until recently, when I bought a 1930 "JP" Pyrex blown flared-rim tumbler in an exquisite handled mount in fully hallmarked silver by Barker Brothers of Birmingham.   This made me realise the difficulty of making such value judgements in respect of situations so long ago.   I don't think 1930 — I think 2014.

Hopefully there's a wordsmith out there who can put into rather better words what I am trying to say. 

Bernard C. 

[Lustrousstone]

That example is in many respects different. A retailer wanting high-class heat-resistant glasses for, say, mint tea, wouldn't had many options for sourcing such guaranteed heat-resistant glasses in 1930. Pyrex was THE brand. There were plenty of pressed glass manufacturers and such an item as Bear's for the more affluent would have been much more likely to be cut rather than imitation cut, as were many Davidson patterns.