Family treasures

[wiseheart]

Actually, it was motodraconis, whose posts gave me the idea of posting pics of the old stuff of my ancestors. *g* Lo and behold Granny's 200+-years-old ceramic spice holders:



We've put back most of the things to their places, save for one kitchen cupboard, which we're planning to do tomorrow, and in the process the idea of taking a photo of these beautiful old containers came. Of course, there are a couple of additions from Harrod's, just because the colour fits, but the ones with the German titles are genuinely more than two centuries old.

The first round of the painting job is almost done, and we're dead on our feet. My knees hurt, and there was a few minutes when I had a slight loss of feeling in my big toe. That's nothing new, it happens sometimes when I'm physically overworked, and it's gone now, but not pleasant anyway.

Also, Pinterest decided to go all stubborn on me and refuses to let me upload any pins, so I had to upload this picture via LJ, which is a risky thing. I've lost a great deal of holiday photos that way when they did some big overhaul or other (back when Six Apart or whoever was the owner).

Comments

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

How lovely that is. We have nothing even half as old in our house and certainly not in that condition.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They originally belonged to a great-grandmother if I am not mistaken, or someone like that, and Grandma got them as a wedding present or whatnot.

[spikesgirl58.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's even more impressive!

[wanderingmogwai.livejournal.com]

I love the spice jars. What a great heirloom!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

They are pretty, aren't they? We don't have many of these old things left, but we cherish them very much.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Wow. I can't believe that's 200 years old! It looks really well taken care of.

Wait, you upload your photos to pinterest?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Well, I am not 100 per cent sure that they're past their second century, but they can't be far from it. As I said above, they originally belonged to a great-grandmother or a great-great-grandmother and were already old when Grandma got them as a wedding gift. In those times things like this served several generations.

And yeah, I do upload my photos to Pinterest, at least those I want to post here. So I won't lost them when my paid account runs out and I don't find another benefactor. It isn't so that I couldn't afford a paid account, I just technically can't manage it, so I always have to start begging in advance.

[adafrog.livejournal.com]

Wow.

Ah. I hadn't thought of pinterest.

[elwenlj.livejournal.com]

Those pots are so pretty. At that age I would be afraid to use them...assuming that they survived that long in my family.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, they are fairly sturdy. Only one of six was broken during my lifetime.

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

Waaah, the pic is so wee I can't see it too clearly. But what were the spices of choice 200 years ago and are they still classic spices for your cooking today? (No big pot of valium!)

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Pinterest has righted itself, so I've reposted the pic - perhaps you can see better now?

The big jars are for flour, coffee, rice and the likes, although for the life of me I can't tell what Feigenkaffee (=fig coffee or coward coffee?) is supposed to be. The small ones are for cinnamon, cumin, nutmeg, paprika, black pepper and the likes. And yes, we basically cook with the same ones today, at least in the family. We are conservative that way. *g*

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

New bigger pic is ace, thank you... as now I can see the rather lovely detailing on the lids. Looks very unusual, I've seen ceramic spice pots in museums and antique fairs but never with that sort of intricate detailing. Smart!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I've never seen anything similar, either. I wonder where Grandpa's family got them. Perhaps a local potter came up with them.

[motodraconis.livejournal.com]

Feigenkaffee is coffee substitute. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coffee_substitute) I only thought to look it up as I recall my mother saying her family used to drink it just after the war.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Oh, I see! We had something similar while still living in Transylvania. Never saw a proper coffee bean before moving to Hungary. I should have thought of googling it, though. Thanks for doing it for me. *g*

[mirasaui.livejournal.com]

The ceramic containers are beautiful, obviously well-made to last so long. What a treasure!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

It is indeed. We value them very much.

[akane42me.livejournal.com]

I love that you have such a wonderful keepsake as those 200 yr old spice holders!
And I feel your pain with the big painting project. I swear, the moving and re-moving is just grueling.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

Worse than even the dirt that goes with it. :(