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

You might try the shaker on the post, because I am 99% sure, as Say_it_slowly suggested, that it is a stand for salt, pepper, and oil & vinegar, missing the cruet. Someone has added the spirit burner, the dish and the inkwell. I'll be home later on and can post similar from Tufts catalogs, though this particular model doesn't look familiar to me, have seen the same pepper shaker and open salt with other sets...

~Cheryl

 

Your right! The shaker fits perfectly on the post. The dish on the side also fits on the post perfectly as shown in previous pictures. So it looks as though it could be a salt/pepper shaker holder and maybe some options, like the dish. I will have to go back to the old barn/house and see if I can find other items that look like this. I think you have found "what it is" but what about the dish? Did this have optional attachments? The burner in the middle might not belong but it sure looks like the same patina. The shaker and the dish have the exact same pattern design.

 

The piece in the middle is an inkwell, it and the spirit lamp are not original, doubt the dish is original either.

Stopping by my house in a bit, will take a quick look...

~Cheryl

 

Don't have much time, but found the stands I was thinking of in an 1898 Tufts catalog, not the same in form, these have napkin rings and Tufts called them 'Combination sets', but they show the same pepper shaker and open salt in different sets.



This Tufts catalog page from 1897 shows a smoking set (lower right), with pedestal form cigar holder, match holder, and ash receiver, along with a matching cigar lamp:



Not sure when I'll have time, but can check some retailer's catalogs to see if the original center item was a cruet or a pickle jar (they usually had a hook for tongs or a fork, but not always)...

~Cheryl

 

Does anyone know the age of this item? I liked it and that is why I bought it and I offered the old man $10 for it and he said "sure I can do that". I did a frank "American pickers" and did a "Bundle". Got the shaker, the item in question and a Indian bowl for bundle price of $20. I think the look of it alone is worth more than what I paid for all the items.

 

I am going to go back to this old house/barn and see if I can find the part that belongs to the center of this item. I assume I will be looking for a glass container of some type with similar design.

 

You're most likely looking for a glass cruet or jar similar in form to those in the pics Say_it_slowly posted - should fit well in the base, and could be any of a variety of glass types, but if a jar, would have a silverplate lid...

~Cheryl

 

Thank you, I will look for it. Probably where the shaker was. He had a few things in glass cases in this old barn. Bet it's in one of those. I will also look for the other part that goes with the piece that lifts up that looks like a lighter/wick holder of some type. Either way I think I got a deal for $10, I love the look of it.

Do you think this is late 1800's or early 1900's or newer?

 

Thomas, I do hope you find the missing piece!

(Which brings me to:
Do you know that book? Shel Silverstein's The Missing Piece - I've loved it since the 70's, when it was first published... It's "supposed" to be for kids, but it truly isn't!)

 

No I don't, sorry. I hope I find it also. He did not know what the item in question is, he said that he just collected/bought things over the years. He probably just put things together when he was cleaning up/organizing and did know what goes with what. I am currently on my 3rd book of Steven Hawkings. I tell you, he thinks like me just wish I had his mathematical skills. I did buy a calculus book to brush on my calc symbols, been a while since I was in college.

 

Oh, Thomas - I wouldn't even TRY to keep up with SH in any of his areas of expertise! His mind is an unearthly phenomenon!

Calculus? Oh, heavens... I took it & got A's way-back-when... then I brushed up on it again a few years back, when my kids were taking it in high school. I have to admit that it's all gone once again, and I have a feeling that it was never meant to stick in MY mind!

 

I also excelled in math from 8th grade all through college, I was always a grade ahead. I was a Hardware Engineer and the last few years of my hi tech carrier I was a Sr. Software Engineer for a major internet company before I got laid off. I also worked for the 2nd largest computer company, Digital Equipment (long gone now). I love math and just wish I continued more into Physics. I am reading about Quantum Mechanics/Physics now and I am loving it, another reason I bought the calc book.
I was first in my class and the prize was my professor gave me all his electronic collection. I still have the color bar generator which I haven't had to use repairing TV's in a long while. I still have many of the other items/parts also.

 

I was first in my class and the prize was my professor gave me all his electronic collection.

Wow - I was first in my class, as well, and all I got was another book!

In truth, I got lots of books as prizes (how about Don Quixote in Spanish?) for SO many subjects, and sad as it seems today (some 40+ years later) not a single one of them had even the slightest inkling of anything to do with my success in business or anything else...

I don't regret ANY of them, at all, but in truth, LIFE has had lots of forays, one way and another. Still, having come out the other side, all I can say is that I'm just glad I did so well back in the day...

 

Deleted my post, as somehow several posts were not visible before I posted.

 

Age is late 1800s -1900

Look at some of the glass here. There are many possibilities.
https://www.google.com/search?q=JW+...=isch&q=castor+set+pickle+salt+pepper&imgrc=_

It would help if you measured the inside where the jar will sit and remember to take a tape measure with you.

Don't forget to look for the lid to the jar.

 

Thank you, I will look carefully. Everyone has been very helpful!!