Unidentified, Object from Ostend
I obtained this object from my father who was a keen yachtsman. He often made a North Sea crossing from Grimsby in his boat ‘The Grayling’, and Belgium was a favourite destination. Early one morning, after a solo crossing to Ostend, my father was strolling along the promenade looking for somewhere to buy breakfast when he was accosted by a man who appeared to be a homeless vagrant. The man was a distinctive looking character with a square jaw and eyes which were unusual in that one was blue and the other brown. He told my father that he was desperate for money and then begged him to buy a wooden box that he was carrying, saying that it would bring my father good fortune.
My father was a kindly person, and even though he had no idea what the box contained, took pity on the vagrant, and gave him 20 Euros. The man appeared to be very happy with this. He gave my father the box and quickly limped away.
My father told me that later the same day when he was passing the Thermae Palace, the premier hotel in Ostend, he saw the man, who earlier had appeared to be a vagrant, coming out of the hotel entrance. He was well groomed and wearing an expensive suit. My father was sure that it was the same man, and became even more certain when he saw a flicker of recognition cross the man’s face. The man jumped into a waiting taxi and was gone before my father could approach him.
Neither my father nor I have any idea of the nature of the contents of the box. The skeletal form within the box is a complete mystery to us, although the plaited string with attached objects reminds me of the message strings used by the Oroko people of Nigeria. I saw examples of these in the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford. They are a method of communication in which each item tied into the string has a meaning. As both of the objects appear to be fastened permanently into the box I did wonder if it might be a religious relic of some kind, or perhaps a travelling alter. However, neither my father or I can imagine why a seemingly wealthy man would pose as a vagrant to pass this object onto my father.
My father was a kindly person, and even though he had no idea what the box contained, took pity on the vagrant, and gave him 20 Euros. The man appeared to be very happy with this. He gave my father the box and quickly limped away.
My father told me that later the same day when he was passing the Thermae Palace, the premier hotel in Ostend, he saw the man, who earlier had appeared to be a vagrant, coming out of the hotel entrance. He was well groomed and wearing an expensive suit. My father was sure that it was the same man, and became even more certain when he saw a flicker of recognition cross the man’s face. The man jumped into a waiting taxi and was gone before my father could approach him.
Neither my father nor I have any idea of the nature of the contents of the box. The skeletal form within the box is a complete mystery to us, although the plaited string with attached objects reminds me of the message strings used by the Oroko people of Nigeria. I saw examples of these in the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford. They are a method of communication in which each item tied into the string has a meaning. As both of the objects appear to be fastened permanently into the box I did wonder if it might be a religious relic of some kind, or perhaps a travelling alter. However, neither my father or I can imagine why a seemingly wealthy man would pose as a vagrant to pass this object onto my father.