Dear Pam,
It occurred to me when I read your inquiry (and I am not at all expert!)
that this might be a homemade "spice box" used by Jews often as one of the
items to mark the end of the Sabbath -- "havdalah." (meaning "to divide").
One is supposed to smell the wonderful smells and attempt to carry those in
one's head throughout the work week.  It is a beautiful custom.  The spice
box (I cannot remember the proper name) is passed around the group and
everyone sniffs in the spice smells.
Just a thought.
Joan



At 09:20 PM 1/5/2000 -0800, you wrote:
>Hello all!
>
>A patron recently brought a basket to our Museum for identification.  I am
>hoping someone can point us in the right direction regarding its source and
>age.  It's nothing like anything I've ever seen, but I am hoping some of
>you "historic" types will be able to help.
>
>The piece is a dark brown, cylindical, lidded basket, 5 inches in diameter
>and about 2 inches tall.  It is made of joined strips of skewered cloves
>(yes, the spice).  From a distance the basket almost looks twined, until
>you see it up close, and realize how it is made.
>
>Hints which may help: is has been in the owner's family for several
>generations; was said to have been "very old" when his father was a child
>in the mid-twenties; family was German Jews who immigrated to the US in the
>1880's, and settled in Washington State.
>
>Many thanks in advance!  -- Pam
>____________________________________________________________________________
>________
>
>  Pamela E. Endzweig
>  Staff Archaeologist/Collections Manager
>  Oregon State Museum of Anthropology/UO Museum of Natural History
>  1224 University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1224  USA
>  Ph 541-346-5090/5120  Fx 541-346-5122
>  [log in to unmask]
>
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UC Riverside Western Center Administrative Office
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