Antique Copper Ashtray / Printing Plate of Rev. Edmund Squire, Boston painted lacquer box and if I did not

and if I did not know better

I found her at a wonderful estate sale chock full of mid-century and contemporary ceramics

I found only one very similar one

with an opening of 4" across at lip and 3 3/4" diameter at base

3" tall x 2

Antique Copper Ashtray / Printing Plate of Rev. Edmund Squire, Boston painted lacquer box and if I did notThis is one of the most curious ashtrays I have encountered, with a very interesting history! Made of copper, at its center is the inscribed name backwards of "Rev. Edmund Squire." A bit of research informs me that Squire was the founder of the Pilgrim Church in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, who, on Nov. 2, 1862the second year of the Civil Warconvened 16 people at his Dorchester home to unite themselves into what they called an unsectarian Church