You ever see anything like this before?
This was in my maternal grandfather’s things, then my maternal grandmother’s things, and now my things. It appears to be a wine, or possibly liquor, bottle that has been carefully covered with animal skin of some kind. The light and dark parts are hide with fur, as is the top of the stopper. The rest is finished leather.
It appears to be impossible to gain access to the bottle underneath, and therefore whatever clues it might hold, without destroying the covering. So I haven’t. The bottle does have a raised bit right above the crest (sort of like what’s on an Absolut vodka bottle, I’d guess, though this is oval and not round).
My grandfather had it and kept up with long enough to die with it, so I presume it was important to him. Thing is, I don’t have any idea what its significance is, so it’s hard for me to feel any connection to it. Knowing him, it really could be anything from a trinket that struck his fancy at a flea market for $5, to the signature possession of an elite secret society.
It has this crest on it:
I don’t recognize it. However, it’s pretty chintzy, which is the primary cue that I’m not dealing with anything of intrinsic value. I don’t know what kind of animal the hide belongs to. I don’t know any more than what you can see in these photos, really.
Everyone who would definitely know something about this bottle is dead.
Do you know something about it? If so, please share.
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Looks like something you’d pick up at the annual Mississippi Choctaw Fair.
I’ll keep it for now. I may eventually put it on eBay with a reserve of, say, $50, on the off-chance that it is really is worth something. Failing that, I’ll see if my sister wants it. Failing that, I may…throw it away.