Finding old things

Hello im Lindsey,
My husband and i walk in the woods alot and always find something old thats not suppse to be there. We end up trying to find out where or when its from, what's its function, how could it have gotten there, ect... So now i have found something & serching for information. I found the best info on here so far . I have found something that has
WARREN PLATE
SILVER PLATE ON BRASS
LEAD MTS.
B26
I took some pictures can any one give me some infor on this please.

 

What is the size? Is there a bottom to it? What is the little thing inside?

 

Its a jenga block there is nomore bottom

 

Hi Lindsey! That's a really unusual marking.

Warren Silver Plate was a trademark of the William A Rogers Company as of 1901. The item was silverplated over brass, but the weird thing is the notation of "lead mounts." Normally mounts are handles or other add-on pieces that embellish a piece of hollowware. Usually they are made of "white metal" - an alloy that substitutes for silver in appearance without the expense. But I have never seen them listed as made of lead.

I can't see in your picture where these lead mounts are on the item. (Not sure what to call it.) Can you show them?

 

Is it this

 

Maybe that's where it "was."

 

It looks like something use to be there.
Do you have any idea what it is or was used for?? Or how old it could be?

 

Can't be older than 1901, because that's when the trademark was established.

It's tough to say what it was originally intended to hold.

 

I wonder if it could have a similar function to a potato ring. Potato rings are earlier and have concave sides, not straight like this one. But maybe this would also placed on a plate and hold something other than potatoes?

 

I've never heard of a potato ring, AJ. Is it a Dutch thing?

 

Irish, maybe they were used in the UK too.
We don't have them here, but I know how it was used: You place the ring on a plate and fill it with hot potatoes and put it in the centre of the table. Potatoes were taken out and served with a special clamp thing.
Sounds to me like the Irish were overcomplicating things, but there you are.

 

Given that the mark indicates a US maker, I think it was something else.

 

Yes, definitely not a potato ring, no concave sides, and not old enough. That is why I said that I wondered if it could have a similar function to a potato ring, not that it was a potato ring.

 

It probably had a glass bowl inside, to use any way you see fit.