Speaking Of Roots......

Yesterday I was talking about 'putting down roots'.

And today this post will be a variation of this theme.

Back in the early 1900's, Ron's maternal grandfather, Arthur Regan,

was a working tailor in the town of Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

He had a very good reputation in the province, as he

made suits for very prominent citizens at the time.

He had seven children, so he had to sew-up a lot of garments

in order to support his wife and family.

One of the things he chose for payment on occasion, was a 'trade of goods'.

and this is how the bronze urns came to be a part of the 'Regan/Troke' household.

Since Ron's mother, Tommy, passed in 1998, we have had them here with us.

Tommy used them as umbrella stands in her front hallway.

And at Christmas they were filled with pine boughs,

 red poinsettias, ribbons and clear small lights.

We have done that here as well.

Lately we are trying to determine if these Asian urns are Chinese or Japanese.

I went online to learn a bit more on each language,

and found that they are very similar in structure/symbol.

I figure they were probably made for the 'western' market

and thus arrived in Nova Scotia at some point.

We had these appraised a few years back but the appraiser

wasn't sure of their origin and date.

I will pursue this a little further and send photos 

to a more reputable dealer to see if they want to search/research these.

As you can see, they are covered in flora and fauna. They are very heavy.

The craftsmanship is very well done. They are 16 inches high.

On the bottom of each there is an inscription in either Chinese or Japanese.

This may be a help to a good appraiser.

In any case, we have enjoyed having them here with us.

How about you? Do have any family heirloom that you enjoy?