What is this toy? (My MIL wants it fixed)

[Wade Lippman]

My mother in law has a toy her Great Great Grandfather made 150 years ago. It is broken and she wants me to fix it. I guess I should be honored, but I can't figure out what it is supposed to be.

Obviously you open it by pulling the bow out, but why does the stern pivot? Nothing happens when you do that, but it must serve some purpose. On the inside there are two spring arms built in; that had to take some work, but they don't do anything. Is something missing or broken? There are tiny wooden pins on either side that push against the spring arms (only one of which moves at the moment) but they don't do anything beyond that.

And finally, the mahogany piece on the top of the stern is two pieces. Is there a reason for that, or did it just crack in two? The front piece lifts up on one side, but I think that is just wear.

Any help would be appreciated.

A couple years ago I rebuilt a 150 year old mahogany desk he built. Literally better than new; no point to doing it authentically because it had suffered hack repairs over the years that I basically just removed and improved the cosmetics.

The big prize is the spoon he used while in Andersonville Prison; but that is promised to my wife's brother. Damn.

[Jim Thiel]

I don't have a clue what it is/does, but I would suggest some genealogical research. perhaps there are some ethnic roots here. Good luck.

Jim

[Chuck Lenz]

A primitive cell phone ?

[keith ouellette]

You have it upside down. It is an antique dutch high heal shoe with a hidden compartment to hide money.

[Wade Lippman]

Well, he was Dutch, but it looks rather like a boat to me.

[Rob Bodenschatz]

Why does it feel like I'm watching Ask This Old House?

I'll go with: Chipmunk Coffin.

[Eric DeSilva]

I want to say I remember a magic trick that used a box like this...

[Michael Gibbons]

can you take a pic of the underside?

[Eric DeSilva]

If it is what I'm remembering, perhaps not so much a magic trick as a magic box. My recollection (known to be faulty) was that on the one my dad built, if you rotated the piece with the angle on it all the way around and then flipped it upside down, a free piece would drop into a slot (which would only align when the top piece was in the right place) and allow the bottom to be pulled back (thus freeing it from the pin, which I think should be glued to the middle/bottom) and rotate, thus exposing the hidden chamber.

Then again, I may just be hallucinating. That has happened before.

[Tim Marks]

Why does it feel like I'm watching Ask This Old House?:D:D:D:D:D

Send it to them, maybe they can figure it out.

[Brett Baldwin]

Similar to what others have said, it looks like a handmade puzzlebox. You'll need to manipulate it as much as possible (carefully of course) to see what the various mechanisms do. At 150 years old it is most likely broken but you can probably figure it out. Also keep in mind that after 150 years of people playing with it may have worn it to the point where something that was cleverly hidden when new is now not hidden. Good luck with it.