Desktop Treasures

Here is a small still life of some of the antique treasures I keep on my desk. The rather surly looking young man in the filigree silver frame is my father as a callow youth. The small tortoise shell box is actually a tiny change purse -- when opened, it reveals a faded blue silk interior divided into several compartments. The elaborately engraved silver card case belonged to a lady named Hettie in 1876, and the fancy silver stick with the ornate floral swags is an amethyst-topped wax seal with the initial "R" on the business end.