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An unusual item from the Boer War is this money collection box, formerly part of the Kenneth Griffith collection. This box (27 x 13 x 13 cm) was constructed from simple pine planks, without regard to aesthetics and by the looks of it by an unskilled craftsman. The text is in Dutch “Aan de Dappere Strijders Voor (D?)en Vrijheid” which translates as: To the brave fighters for Freedom. The lid features a donation slot as well as the years “1899” and “1900”.



The back of the box has two inverted keyholes indicating it was hung in a church or other place where one could make a donation for the Boers in the field. The box could have been used in South Africa (including Natal and the Cape Colony where there were many (Church) communities of Dutch speakers), the Netherlands /Flandres or even in the POW camps. A few remarks about the text: In pure Dutch of the day, it would have read “Den” Dappere instead of “De” Dappere. De “en vrijheid” could have been a spelling error (“Den Vrijheid”) or perhaps de full text the carver had planned was “Voor Recht en Vrijheid” and he simply ran out of space. Furthermore the “ij” in the words Strijders en Vrijheid is oddly spelled with a lower case “i” followed by an upper case “J”. This, combined with the amateurish construction, simple materials and the fact that in Holland the word “Boers” would probably have figured in the text, seems to suggest that this box was made and used in South Africa.

This pen nib, featuring a relief portrait of President Kruger was made by the Russian company "Riga". Riga made a series of nibs celebrating influential personalities, such as the poet Pushkin. Each nib had a number which corresponded with a significant date in the individual's life. Hence, Kruger is No. 1900, and Pushkin No. 1799 (the year of the poet's birth).

Inscribed: "PAUL KRÜGER No. 1900". Maker's mark: "P" in a circle. The Cyrillic letter "P" is the equivalent of a Latin "R" (standing for Riga).





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EFV, that's a lovely object.
I have two observations which might lend slight support to the idea that the box came from Europe.
- By the time of the war, and for some time previous, the word for "free" had been spelled "vry", as in Vryheid and Vrystaat. Of course there would have been variation, esp. in semi-literate people.
- The wood used for the box looks to be common soft pine. By the late 19th C, softwood pine production had hardly begun in SA, and the pine widely used e.g. for floorboards in 19th C houses was imported Oregon Pine, which is a relatively dense, hard timber with tighter grain.
Just my 5c worth.

Rob thanks for your thoughts. On the flipside, the wood used is of low quality and the planks have different thickness. To me it looks like a recycled bottle crate. Most spirits and wines arrived in SA in crates and this “waste” material was probably widely available. As for Y or IJ, a Boer from Dutch stock would most likely have used the “IJ” he had read in the only book present in every Dutch-Boer household “de Statenbijbel”.