Rugged Old Bronze Miniature Pestle E & L Insurance Advertising Chicago IL

Description

Very heavy (1 ¼ lbs.), rugged old bronze pestle, 2 ¾” tall, flared at the top to 3 1/8” across, with 2 squared handles and turned decorative bands.
On the bottom is advertising featuring old, presumably contemporaneous, firefighting equipment: “E & L / Insurance / Chicago.” Unsigned. For a long time, I thought that the outside was more than ordinarily worn, with the entire surface covered with little nicks. Now I am convinced that the apparent wear, for whatever reason, is intentional, not accidentally inflicted. All the nicks are about the same size and depth, and cover too completely to be random. Odd, isn’t it? Maybe I’m wrong. I don’t think so. I never do. Not a common piece of advertising, with no dents, corrosion, cracks, or repair.
I always ship the business day after I receive payment.
An item may be returned if it is substantially different from how I have described it. I will pay return postage.
Buyer pays actual postage; there is no handling fee. Priority postage rates increased about 4% on January 24.
I always pack multiple purchases together to save on shipping.
Postcards and paper items are packed in poly sleeves with corrugated cardboard and sent in a padded mailer, for which USPS charges First Class parcel rate. This is new: First Class postage now varies with distance.
There is now very little difference between the rates for Priority and Retail Ground; it’s less than 10%. Since Priority Mail includes insurance up to .00, I have decided to send everything over 14 oz. by Priority. The exceptions are oversized boxes (Retail Ground) and books (Media Mail).
I will contact the winner immediately after the auction (unless you have already paid) and again when I ship the item, to let you know it’s on the way.
Thank you for looking, and for wading through the fine print.