VERY RARE COLLECTION OF 4 ANTIQUE COPPER ENGRAVED PRINTING BLOCKS FOR 4 JOHANNESBURG COMPANIES, CIRCA 1900.
A. S. Traub & Company, Auctioneers & Live Stock Salesmen, Pim Street, Newtown. Reference 3676. Size 20 x 6 cms. or 8 x 2 inches. Euros 80.
The Tobacco Company of Rhodesia and South Africa Limited. Reference 3675. Size 20 x 7 cms., or 8 x 2,5 inches. Euros 80.
Simmer and Jack Proprietary Mines and Limited. Reference 3677. Size 26 x 5 cms., or 10 x 5 inches. Euros 80.
The Standard Trading Company Limited. Wine and Spirit Merchants. 218 Commissioner Street East, Johanesburg. Telephone 2129. Euros 80.
CLOSE UP of just one of the large variety of items used to decorate the cap. This large silver coin is a 1780 thaler Maria Teresa coin many of which, with others of smaller denomination values, were introduced by the Italian occupiers of the Horn of Africa States in the early 1900s. It was an effort to try and find a common currencey for these states as well as some nearby Gulf countries. The cap has two more smaller silver coins hiding in the overall decorative field. A similar, but much more simple, cap is shown as colour plate 149 in the excellent book "Embroidered Textiles" by Sheila Paine.
YEMENI WOMAN'S EMBELLISHED HAT upon which a multitude of coins, charms, beads of amber and coral, amulets and other superstitious and unusual items are displayed. Most rare is the use of an Austrian Maria Theresa Thaler silver coin dated 1780. These coins were widely used as some measure of monetry stability in the Horn of Africa states in the early 1900s. The current value of this one in good condition is around USD 165, however it is now diminished because it was damaged when being mounted as part of a necklace in the late 1800s. The photo shows the back of the cap. Reference 3450. Size 26 x 39 cms., or 10 x 16 ins. Euros 140.