My parents moved into a smaller house about a year or so ago, in the process they gave me and my wife a lot of their antiques they weren't able to keep. Over the past year my wife and I have been slowly going through the boxes trying to decide what to keep, and what to put where type thing. My grandmother collected dishes, which probably covers about 50% of what we took in. In the process of going through a box of knick-knacks I ran into a hand mirror. The metal work on it is very pretty, and is in quite good shape. I believe it is pewter. The mirror is relatively solid and heavy, at least for it's size. It probably weighs in around 1 - 2 lbs, is roughly 1/4 inch thick and 6 inches tall.
The thing that baffles me is that it has a specific date and place on it, October 6, 1896 St. Louis I have researched around a bit, finding nothing that was special about that time and place in St. Louis. It also has a viking looking face wearing a VP helmet/hat with what almost looks like cat ears coming out of the top on both sides of the handle. I took it to an antique dealer locally, and he guessed it may have come from a World Fair. My mother's family was from the area in the late 1800s - early 1900s so it makes sense that they could have been at a Fair at that time.
Sorry for the picture quality, I only have a cell phone camera. They are much higher resolution if you click the picture. I can try and get better pictures if you want to see something about it.
This is more to show relative size. The envelope is larger than your standard envelope, so I put a CD next to it to give a little proportion.
This is the back of the mirror, showing the date and place I mentioned. I have been trying to figure out what VP would mean.
This shows the rear of the handle in detail, with some bearded guys face, who is wearing a VP hat with ears coming out of it, it almost looks like. Doesn't make a lot of sense.
This shows the front, mirror side of the hand mirror. With the same bearded guy design.
Showing the smudges and little wear and tear on the mirror. I am going to clean it as best as I can.
I am not really looking for a price, although if you want to give one that would be nice. I don't plan on parting with it, as I like it as does my wife. I am really just more interested in a possible information about its origins. Any ideas would be fantastic.
