What a great idea. Can we include items that we would have known and cherished in a past life? Probably not as those were mostly different families and all over the place.
I could pick so much from my own life and that of parents and grandparents and great aunts etc., but I think I'll look around and see what I have that represents some part of an ancestor's life. So far I've put aside a Miners Lamp, A Weaver's shuttle, a figure of a Miner kneeling made out of Welsh Coal, an Austrian Beer mug with hinged lid, a Candle Stick and Thimble.
However I can't help but think about some ancestors who owned little more than ten objects and thought reminded me of everything that my 6 x Great grandmother Eleanor Grant owned after her husband my 6 x great grandfather John Grant died in or before 1722.
Imprimis – means ‘Firstly’
'His purse & apparel', '2 cows & 2 calfs, & sheep,
'In Hay & Straw',
'One Plow, & Harrow, & Blades,'
'One Shovel & Mattock & Crow Axe & fork & Iron..' But what is the last word on that line?
'One wheelbarrow, scythe, rakes, & pick fork'.
House
'One Chest, One Cupbord, One Cheese Press, & wooden ware
'One Brass Pan & Pewter, 2 Iron kettles',
'One fire = Iron tongs, Crow frying pan, pottery?, bread bin'.
‘One Lead Blackstone Smoothing Iron & heaters.’
Parlour
'2 beds, bedding & Chest'
Chamber,
'One coffer, 2 spinning wheels, 2 chairs?, 2 ....?, 2 stools
'In meal & Corn sacks',
'In earthen pots, bottles, wiskatter, & all other Husliemonts.
From Veeblevort on Rootschat:
“The OED provides wiskett as being a northern dialect word with a
Scandinavian root, for basket.
Huslement is provided as tools, or utensils, or equipment or furniture
of a household nature.”
Malcolm