Want to know what this J.W. Tufts piece is?

I bought this because I like it, its heavy for its size and I am wondering what it is.
On the bottom it has:

J.W. Tufts Boston Triple plate 1453

I searched for an identical item but cannot find it. I assume the 1453 is an item number for I am sure it is not a date since J.W. Tufts was in 1875.

Attached are some pictures:

 

it's nice...and unusual.....but that's all I got !!

 

I think that bunsen burner and thing in the middle are add ons .

 

This doesn't look like it all started life together. Which pieces are removable? Can we see what the basic frame looks like with all of them removed?

 

At this point I'm not really sure what this is either. It may be missing something big in the middle. I'm sure someone will come along with help on IDing it. I can only see one pic for it. As you say some pictures, I presume there are more. A picture of the mark could be helpful in determining the date. J.W. Tufts used several marks. I have taken the liberty of editing (cropping) the one pic I see and posting it in full image. Many people do not take the time to click on thumbnails.

As you known their 1st trademark was registered in 1875, but the company was in business up into the early 1900s. The company was very much involved in "silverplating of [soda] fountain parts ... branched out 1875 into the manufacture of an extensive line of silverplated items such as pitchers, dishes and bases. The business, which had been conducted under Tufts' name, was consolidated in 1891 with other soda fountain companies and became Soda Fountain Company, the largest in its field. By 1895 Tufts turned the active management of his business over to others because of his health." He founded the resort town of Pinehurst, NC. <per Rainwater's Encyclopedia of American Silver Manufacturers, pp. 256-257>

--- Susan

 

Not convinced that these go together either. However, it appears to be some kind of smoking set. The burner thing appears to be a cigar lighter.

 

It would also be nice if the picture of the frame showed the decoration on the top of the "handle."

 

More pictures as requested, thanks.

 

Requested top decoration, thanks

 

Thanks, Thomas. That's very helpful.

I believe that the item with the ceramic insert and the low dish that allowed it to sit in the central spot of the frame are not original.

Now that we know that neither the base of the "lighter" or flame part nor the "footed dish" (reminds me of an ice cream dish although it clearly isn't one in this application) come off, that narrows the field. What's missing is some kind of round and relatively tall "thing" - probably glass.

Total WAG here but it goes with the previous suggestion about the lighter being for cigars - combination cigar "jar"/lighter/ashtray? Brought to the table when gentleman customer at an eating establishment orders a cigar after his meal. Any takers?

 

There is no stated size,the first thing that came to my mind was a hookah stand.

 

Not sure if these items are original either. I bought it at a local barn where this older man had 4 buildings. The main house is 250 years old and he has a lot of stuff in all 4 buildings. He said that he has bought this stuff over several years. The big old barn had a lot of tools, just one section was planers, must have been over 500 various kinds of them in a row on old hand built shelves. This older man was on our local TV show called NH Chronicle, showing his collection. Chronicle is a show about our state. He had a lot of stuff dating back to the mid 1800's scattered about the 4 old buildings. This item was all together next to a few other older items but I liked the look of this item. I found a silver salt shaker in around the same area that looked like the same design but did not have the same stamp. The stamp on the salt shaker looks like a C, I think.

 

I typed "CIGAR CADDY" into Google Images and came up with this:

 

Not at home to run through any references, but it's not really ringing any bells for me - do believe, as already suggested by Brad and Bakersgma, it's a cigar/smoking stand, with attached cigar lamp and ash receiver, missing a jar for cigars. Spirit lamps were also found on curling iron stands, which this is obviously not, and also on desk stands as sealing wax lamps - perhaps someone added the dish to fill the space, along with the inkwell, thinking that was what belonged...

~Cheryl

 

I wonder if it was a pickle castor with salt and pepper like these, that someone has adapted for another use.

 

That thought occurred to me to, s_i_s, but from what I could see, it looked like the milled bands on the base and the ash receiver were a match - and the silverplate manufacturers did use the same parts on some of their creations...

~Cheryl

 

On the picture that shows all the parts around the item, those are the only parts you can remove from the base. I don't think this was a salt & pepper shaker because the bowl on the right cannot be removed. I have done a few searches online and I can't find anything like it. My next thing is to bring it to some antique places around my town, I live off the street of what the town calls "antique alley". Might find someone there that may know something about this piece.

 

I did find a salt or pepper shaker within his collection that has the same design as the item in question. I did not find the pair but found one. This shaker does not belong to the item in question.

 

Perhaps you might show the shaker, and give some measurements. My eyesight is failing, and I'm on my phone - but is that a visible solder-line where the spirit lamp joins the arm? Could the pedestal 'cup' be a matching salt to the shaker? Perhaps this is someone's after-market creation rather than a factory piece...

~Cheryl

 

The unit in question is about 8+"+H X 5.5"W. The salt shaker is 3+"High with the cap on. There is no visible solder-line in the piece in question. And I did not know I could remove the cup so I took another picture of the whole unit in question with all the removable parts. The cup did not come off easily that is why I did not take it off before, I did not want to break anything.