Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

French Antique Guessing Game

Guessing game French Antique Collage

 

What is it?

 

I found it this weekend at a brocante. It is 1800s, French, made of iron with a iron meshed top.

I assume most of you will guess as I did, and with that be partly right. But there is more to it than that… do you know? I did not.

Add your guess to the comment section, or Facebook, or by email. The first one to tell me correctly what it was used for will win a prize (something from the French Brocante) and the one with the most creative, original response will win a prize too.

Good Luck!

Comments

53 responses to “French Antique Guessing Game”

  1. Julie Loeschke

    Was it a rack used to dry wet shoes or boots in front of a fire?Just guessing.That’s what I’d use it for.:)

    Reply
  2. Liz

    Well, perhaps an obvious one here, but it’s a folding seat – an elegant one at that. But perhaps used for watching boules from the sidelines? A boules fanatic’s perch. If it were from England, I’d say croquet lawn ladies’ seat, but France, well, it has to be boules doesn’t it?!

    Reply
  3. Jennifer

    I also thought immediately of a drying rack as the the top pivots. Sure beats the flimsy synthetic mesh item I have now for drying sweaters!

    Reply
  4. marlis

    seat? foot rest? drying rack for lavender? pasta drying rack….i’m sure i’m on the wrong track..

    Reply
  5. Cynthia Rieth

    I would have to guess boot/shoe scraper for when you come in with muddy shoes; however it could also be an inebriation tester – if you can sit on it without falling forward or backward you are sober 😉

    Reply
  6. Susan young

    It’s a fireplace screen to catch sparks before they fly out into a room
    Does double duty as a meat grill.

    Reply
  7. Lorraine

    It appears charred by fire.
    A young man courting his jeaune femme would make a
    petit fire underneath to roast chestnuts in her jardin on a cold night.

    Reply
  8. quiltmom anna

    People have guessed all the things that I have thought it might be except a folding table. I thought of a drying rack and a boot scraper and a fireplace screen but I guess I will go with the portable table for something different. You do find the most interesting things Corey..

    Reply
  9. Ed in Willows

    This is a pedestal used at the French Gallows. The condemned person would stand on it, the hangman would pull a pin and the top would flip, letting the condemned person slide off and hang from the rope.

    Reply
  10. rae.lange@maac.com

    I think it may be a footrest to use in front of the fireplace to warm one’s feet! anyway, that’s what I would use if for!!

    Reply
  11. Nicolette

    Good one.

    Reply
  12. martina

    a thingy to roast chestnuts etc?

    Reply
  13. Diogenes

    Was it used for cooking food outdoors? Sort of a 19th century barbeque?

    Reply
  14. LIl

    My guess: A food dryer to dehydrate and preserve food, perhaps fruit. It tips so that all the small pieces of fruit or whatever can fall into a basket.

    Reply
  15. Ginny

    It is a gout stool. When a person suffered trom gout
    the pain in Lower limbs, feet specifically, was somewhat
    alleviated by elevating the leg on a stool. Later
    In history, especially in the Victorian period,
    you will find wood upholstered stools.

    Reply
  16. Lana Kloch

    what a beautiful discovery, corey! i thought it might be a sewing machine treadle, but noticed it’s base is too high. can’t wait to find out what it is. merci

    Reply
  17. Marilyn

    A fire grate that can also be used for kid’s to bounce a ball off of and keep the balls out of the fire. It is very versatile you know because it can also be used for a side table, a place to set your drinks.

    Reply
  18. stephanie

    A bench for elderly people who need a `boost` to get off the bench to stand up.

    Reply
  19. Erin Perry

    Build the fire on it, the ash falls through, the remaining coals and charred wood remain on top to start the next day’s fire.
    Erin in Morro Bay

    Reply
  20. Anne

    Ed, Ed, Ed. You must be Corey’s brother. No one but a brother would dare to write something like that. I’m an only girl with 5 younger brothers and they would for sure put something like that in my blog. (Secretly I think you might be correct.)

    Reply
  21. Sharon Penney-Morrison

    I know what this is!!! It is something you found for me.
    I will have Scott weld it steady and place a jardiniere of fresh flowers inside and place it on my porch.

    Reply
  22. kim g.

    Surely it is a pergola for a fairy garden

    Reply
  23. Kathie B

    À propos of Corey’s recent post re santons: Portuguese presépio (crèche), made in the Azores’ pottery capital of Lagoa, São Miguel, on display in Taunton, Massachusetts, this month:
    http://www.oldcolonyhistoricalsociety.org/cartaz1x1-2.pdf

    Reply
  24. LIl

    Thanks! My sister and I will be driving right by Taunton, MA later this month. This will give us a great little side trip.

    Reply
  25. Christina

    This is a tricky one.
    It’s for cats, rather a cat deterrent.
    See, the cat comes slinking near, sees this beautiful spot to rest on… but just as she’s done her twirl it goes and tips to the side… aaand cat slides down and goes to find a better place somewhere else.
    Btw, I do love cats, but they have a knack to find the darnest places sometimes to run off in a tiffy when it didn’t turn out… maybe it was just my cats though…

    Reply
  26. mary

    good guesses 🙂
    I think I would use it near a fire to warm my feet? Hard to say It will be fun to find out

    Reply
  27. Jeannie

    I thought it was a sifter for sifting rocks out of the vegetable garden. I really think it is to sift something and then what you are sifting out can be dumped into a bin. Or maybe for drying nuts?

    Reply
  28. monica

    I am with Martina…a chestnut roaster!

    Reply
  29. beckymcgee@comcast.net

    I believe it to be a footrest used with an outdoor chair.
    (That is what I think I would use it for).
    Becky

    Reply
  30. Brian Harrison

    I think it went with an outside rocker. So when you rocked your baby to sleep or small child you would have a rocker for your feet and it would create a smooth motion for the person and baby.

    Reply
  31. LIl

    I have another guess… It’s an antique fireplace screen used to keep large sparks from flying into the room. The reason it swivels is so that you can feed the fire without moving the whole thing out of the way, and that’s also the reason why only one side of the rectangular piece is blackened. It came close to the fire and ashes when it was swiveled down while the fire was being poked or another log was put on.

    Reply
  32. Leslie Curtin

    Perhaps a foot grate to warm your tootsies by the fire & when the piggies are toasty swivel the foot grate to the horizontal position & dry your boots/shoes;)

    Reply
  33. Mahala

    It looks like a iron mesh table to remove the husk or hull from the outside of nuts, where it falls through the holes, then you tilt the table and the nuts fall into a large bowl. Easy peasy.

    Reply
  34. Debbie Z.

    I am thinking that it was used to dry clothing in the sun- socks, linens, etc. The top could be tiled toward the sun as it made its way across the afternoon sky. The mesh in the top is probably indented so the clothes wouldn’t slide off.

    Reply
  35. Vicki Malignaggi

    Is this a roasting rack for chestnut, or possibly other nuts at a fireplace ??? I do feel a bit foolish just guessing. Thanx, Vicki

    Reply
  36. Nancy Pleimann

    Before you go into the house you clean your shoes off on the grate. Sounds good to me. Nancy P.

    Reply
  37. kurt

    I believe it is an adjustable garden gout stool.

    Reply
  38. djohannesen

    It is a strainer!
    Thanks again for the stimulation of the mind!

    Reply
  39. Maureen

    I think it’s a boot scraper and balancing game in one!

    Reply
  40. Kit

    My immediate thought was also a fire-screen, but then you can also fold it down to sit on by the fire and toast your back, or lay out grapes to dry into raisins. It’s a multipurpose fire-side tool for small houses with no space to spare!

    Reply
  41. Chico Sue

    I is a giant cheese grater for the first mega pizzeria in Provence at the turn of the century.

    Reply
  42. Christine

    My first thought was a boot scrapper for the porch!Cant wait to hear what it was used for!:)

    Reply
  43. 24/7 in France

    Hmmm, first thought is a seat to use in the garden when picking flowers. It is a beautiful find, for sure.

    Reply
  44. double d

    Thought it might be an end table for the garden. It would match my set perfectly. I think it doubles as a pasta maker, you press the dough over the top and it extrudes through the holes. Perfect for gnocchi !

    Reply
  45. peggy braswell

    My two cents is this…one day, long ago, a french noble bought it for a french noble woman. She was thrilled with the wire drying rack for her tiny little shoes that turned into a firescreen then into a footrest for her tired little feet. And there is my 2 cents. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

    Reply
  46. kim

    My guess is that it dries socks & shoes in front of the fireplace, which is why it tilts & also has the rusty parts to it, from wet shoes & socks. Possibly also holds your wet undergarments in front of the fireplace.

    Reply
  47. Wendy Shippee

    Hmm, the drying rack was a good thought but, I think it is a foot stool/ backrest for the garden.

    Reply
  48. Karen Carson

    Okay…I am going to speculate that it is something one kneels on…either for prayer or pulling weeds? Of course if one has had too much vino…(which let’s face it, one shouldn’t do while either praying OR pulling weeds) it would be rather ungraceful. It does conjure up a picture, doesn’t it?

    Reply
  49. Kathie B

    That’s great news! Maybe you can give us a report on it (with photos, if the society permits them). BTW, I understand that Taunton is a strongly Portuguese town, so maybe you can ask someone at the Society if they can recommend a nearby Portuguese restaurant or bakery where you can get some authentic food: my favorite pastry is Pastel de Natas, a baked custard tartlet (although some of my friends love Dona Amélias). Boa viagem, LIl!!!

    Reply
  50. tammigirl

    I think back in the 1700’s this was exactly what they used when they shined your shoes at the airport! 😉

    Reply
  51. Neadsci@yahoo.come

    Dehydrator.. Lay the fish on the netting and sun dry them.

    Reply
  52. Sandra

    I think it is an outdoor end table and a tilted foot rest.

    Reply
  53. Sandra

    I think it is a patio end table and when tilted, it is a foot rest. Or maybe it doesn’t “tilt” it folds up flat to be carried or stored

    Reply

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