Antique 18th Century Dutch Brass Oval Etched Snuff Tobacco Trinket Box 5"

Details

Description

Antique late 18th century oval brass Dutch tinder / snuff / pill box, etched with phrases and a landscape of … Read more Antique late 18th century oval brass Dutch tinder / snuff / pill box, etched with phrases and a landscape of two figures plowing a field.

Voor ene goede vrind / for a good friend \[of mine\]
daar staat mijn doos steeds open. / there stays my box always open
Maar niet voor alle man / but not for everyone/anyone
die op den bedel lopen. / who come to beg \["oi mate 'ave some sniffin tobacco to share?"\]
(basically greediness, straightforwardness, and/or cynicism which is considered to be a common trait of Dutch character).

Translation:
"Ik viste op vooren en vonde een baars"
I was fishing on minnow (or furrows - a long trench made by a plow) and found a Perch..

"Mijn doos staat open niet voor alleman die op den bedel loopen"
My box is open (but) not for anyone who is begging..

Jij viste op vo(o)ren en vande een baars
You were fishing upstream and caught a [common/European] perch

Mijn doos staat open niet voor alleman, die op den beitel lo(o)pen
My box remains/stays/is open not to everyone (not for just anybody) who [picks up and] raises the chisel.
(vooren and loopen are archaic infinitive forms of voren and lopen respectively)

Expanded:
Ik viste op vooren en vande een baars

'vooren' is the archaic spelling of 'voorn' (common roach)
(the most common fish in Dutch waters)

I was fishing for roach but caught a perch
"I have caught something worth much more than I was looking for"
(There is a lady depicted there, so it might symbolise "I have managed to find a woman who exceeded my expectations")

Mijn doos staat open niet voor alleman, die op den bedel lopen. See less