Do you know what it is?

[KC]

This is a beautiful reticulated silver item that I believe most people do not know what it is....but I feel there will be a couple on the forum that will know!

These were made small and large.  This one is only 3 1/2" in height and ranges from $800 to $1000 in value!!!!!!

Gander to guess?

[talesofthesevenseas]

This is a total guess on my part, but it looks like an old boutineer, used to hold a flower on to a person's clothes front.

[mariok54]

I think it's a Tussy Mussy ...?

[waywardangler]

KC, why does your picture not enlarge?  mario, I had to look up what a "tussy mussy" is and I agree with your assessment. 

[mariok54]

Thanks, Wayward.. Impossible to say for certain from the pic, but I'm pretty sure that's what it is.
These became popular in Georgian and Victorian times, when sanitation was not, perhaps, as good as it is today. Whereas the men kept their little silver vinaigrettes in their pockets, women would hold sweet smelling posies, sometimes of herbs, to their delicate noses to ward off the stench given off by the masses.  I imagine taht it became fashionable to go for more and more expensive and intricate little containers to hold them in ... certainly beats aluminium foil!  

You could even be right, Tales, but maybe this could be a little too large.

Here's a nice example of what you mean

http://www.bexfield.co.uk/04/f298.htm

[sapphire]

Tussy Mussy/Mussy Tussy !


Just finished up doing wedding flowers for a coworker.......used them ('modern' version) for the bouquets. 

[sapphire]

"AN ORIGINAL RETICULATED STERLING TUSSY MUSSY IN CUSTOM DOMED BOX: Beautiful rose and thistle motif, unmarked, assayed sterling, please note repair patch, in original hinged custom storage box with leather covered exterior. Please note wear to leather, satin and velvet interior, 6 1/4" x 2 3/4"."

Price realized - $600

[CuriousCollector]

Looks just like Hercule Poirot's boutonniere holder, in the PBS series!

But if they come larger, then I agree with tussy mussy.  They are still used (in cheap plastic disposable form) in wedding bouquets today.

[KC]

Ya'll are tooooo smart!

It is a Tussy Mussy!!!!  This one.... is located at:
http://www.liveauctioneers.com/item/5934101

Whenever I find something that is unusual/not your norm I will post it.....so that way if you ever run across one (a victorian sterling silver one like this) grab it!!!!!

Glad to see that you are a mighty refined group!!!!!

[fancypants]

Dang .... came in late on this one .

Had I not , I might have said :
"I do declaih , I believe someone has mussed my tussy !" ,
(as a retort to the 'mighty refined' comment) .

 

I'm with KC on the grabbin' one if ya see it remark !

[marcylove]

...and I just learned what a tussy mussy was!

[talesofthesevenseas]

I hadn't heard the term tussie-mussie before and so I went looking for some more info- I'm curious if ladies would carry these and use them like a vinaigrette to mask the smells of the city, if they were used primarily as we do now for weddings, or if a lady would grow the flowers in her garden and carry them in the mussy-tussy when she went for a stroll, almost like a fasion accessory? Does anyone know?  Also what purpose do the ring on the chain and the pin serve? I saw that some of these are designed to fit into a vase when not being carried, but I am not sure if the ring/chain/pin are for something else?

Definitely a high-dollar item on Ebay. It looks like most auctions are spelling it with an "ie" rather than a "y".

[mariok54]

I'm curious if ladies would carry these and use them like a vinaigrette to mask the smells of the city, if they were used primarily as we do now for weddings

Hi Tales, I'm probably guilty of letting my imagination run riot, and making unsupported statements (something I'm always telling my students not to do!!)... I know that women also used vinaigrettes, and there are some very fine, feminine specimens around that realise good prices, but for some reason I have this memory of reading somewhere that this is what they were used for. So I may be wrong. Re the spelling of Tussy Mussy, to be honest it was only a guess as it had been such a long time since I'd last read about them, but it seems that it is one of the possible spellings... although I can't find a single reference to any variation of the spelling in my Funk and Wagnells or my 1880s Ogilvies' ... at which point I gave up.

[mariok54]

Hi All,

Found this which might explain why I can't find any references in my old dictionaries

http://www.word-detective.com/0806B.html

It's somewhat surprising that "tussy-mussy" is around at all today. The term faded from use in the early 18th century, and was only revived in the 20th (the Oxford English Dictionary contains no citations between 1706 and 1958). The Victorians may have indeed been brandishing "tussy-mussies" on festive occasions, but it seems that they must have been calling them something else.

and there is this piece, but how reliable it is, I wouldn't like to guess..

http://www.ehow.com/how_2143831_victorian-tussy-mussy.html

Modern times have narrowed this idea to refer to the small bouquet held by a bridesmaid. In Victorian times, the Tussy Mussy was a far more common accessory, keeping at bay the scents of human bodies who were not in tune with daily bathing, and sewer systems which were not in tune with modern drainage and hygiene. Given the common use of the Tussy Mussy, they were often given as gifts, with each herb and flower conveying a specific meaning. The process of creating a Victorian Tussy Mussy is a simple one.

Read more: How to Create a Victorian Tussy Mussy | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_2143831_victorian-tussy-mussy.html#ixzz14IHGgSoY

[KC]

From what I have found over time...this sums it up very well....
A bit of history  "The language of flowers spans the world of the ancients from Greece and Turkey to the Aztecs of South and Central America.In England during Elizabethan times, judges carried tussie-mussies into their courtrooms to protect against "gaol fever." Today judges at England's highest court, the Old Bailey, celebrate this tradition by carrying a tussie-mussie into court six times a year. During the Victorian era tussie-mussies were carried close to the nose to ward off the stench in the streets and the plague and were composed primarily of scented herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and rue. The age-old custom of strewing pungent herbs on the floors of homes was thought to protect the gentlefolk from germs and provide herbal fragrances - early aromatherapy. The Victorians also turned flower giving into an art. It was common practice at the beginning of a courtship for suitors to give their intended a tussie-musssie. Floriography, the art of sending messages by flowers, brought a new dimension to tussie-mussies. Dozens of floral dictionaries were published listing the meanings of each flower and herb. The symbolic meanings were adapted from classical mythology, religious symbolism, ancient lore, and a bit of creativity on the part of the floral designer. The study of botany and the discovery of new plants from all over the world brought new and exciting ideas to this language of flowers."

And more that I don't care to write/post....http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tus1.htm