Brass handle?

[Amos Moses]

I found this thing some years back under a fairly old property, I have no idea what it is! It's about 5" wide and 3" deep.

 

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[Amos Moses]

It seems to be hand made, the craftsmanship seems nice, but rudimentary.

 

[nhbenz]

It resembles African bronze bracelets (some were brass too).

 

[Amos Moses]

It's pretty heavy, I can't imagine someone keeping that thing on their hand

 

[unclemac]

take a look in this link...

https://www.google.com/search?q=bro...oDg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1821&bih=846&dpr=0.75

 

[Amos Moses]

Wow... That's a real shocker to me, I am amazed! How in the world did this get to rural Texas hill country.

 

[unclemac]

give us the whole story....when, where, how....details...we love a mystery!

 

[Amos Moses]

My dad was tilling our field about 10 years back and unearthed this thing, it's been tossed in a junk drawer since then... Crazy! The only explanation for it is that it was a little piece of home, brought from Africa, with a slave. Of course, that is complete speculation on my part. I can't really see any other way for it to get here, because my county (Jasper-Newton), had one of the highest slave population in the 1840's.

 

[gunsil]

It seems to be hand made, the craftsmanship seems nice, but rudimentary.

It is cast, not hand made.

 

[ARC]

very cool

 

[unclemac]

It is cast, not hand made.

...sure....hand cast, a single item. Certain tribal areas of west Africa were well known for their bronze castings...poke around this...

Benin Bronzes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

if you read it, it should also lead you to other links and ideas....try the google search "history africa bronze bracelet" or something similar.

 

[tamrock]

Many slaves came from from the region of West Africa, such as the Ivory Coast, so I'm thinking the slave connection sounds like a good lead, being the place you said it was found had a large slave population in the past. I found this bracelet called a 'Malnilla' that may be a possibility to what you have... Manillas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I also found a cast bronze buckle that was said to be found in New Mexico and had an early Spanish connection. The dark patina on it sure came close to the level of patina seen on your item. Your bronze piece has what looks like more recent wear due to some handling of it over the 10 years after you said it was found. Pretty interesting find you have. Hope you can get it solved with some level of certainty.

 

[unclemac]

I gotta wonder however, if a slave would be able to keep or conceal such an item....if this is an item that has been connected to slave ownership in the past, that would be something to find out.

 

[unclemac]

this is fun
bracelet | eBay

 

[unclemac]

contact these folks...there is a good chance they can even tell you the tribe that it came from...

Bronze Sculpture - Museum of African Art

 

[cudamark]

Wow... That's a real shocker to me, I am amazed! How in the world did this get to rural Texas hill country.

That amazed me too! I figured it was a door knocker!

 

[Rean.c]

I thought it was for holding drapes together lol


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