button with odd man with animal head theme...

[dwayne sueno]

found this recently in an area that has produced colonial on up to modern day finds.
the button is flat, with high relief on the obverse, and feels quite light in the hand,
almost as though it were a two-part button, but it seems to be just a single piece.
the image looks to me like a dancing man with perhaps a deer head for a head, and he
seems to be holding something- perhaps a fiddle and bow? perhaps a sword and
there looks to be a chair in the background.
any guesses as to what genre this thing might fall into, or what's going on in the image?
thanks,

dwayne

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

Hermes? Artemis?

 

[Bramblefind]

Hermes? Artemis?

I thought maybe mythology too - this is the goat god "Pan with Spear" "stamped brass, one piece"... but there is some other stuff going on in that button - very cool find!

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Robin Hood? Peter Pan? View attachment 606312

 

[Subterranean]

Is it possibly a goat carrying a man? Maybe a reference to the Masonic ritual of "Riding the Goat?" The chair may be a form of ladder, used in the ritual...

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Is it possibly a goat carrying a man? Maybe a reference to the Masonic ritual of "Riding the Goat?" The chair may be a form of ladder, used in the ritual...

Good observation. We may be looking at a goat head or devil.

 

[chrisplay2004]

This is like looking at clouds, everyone see's something different.
I see a man riding a serpent...

 

[Breezie]

Is it possibly a goat carrying a man? Maybe a reference to the Masonic ritual of "Riding the Goat?" The chair may be a form of ladder, used in the ritual...

I think this is a pretty good assessment, especially since it has a chair/ladder in the background. In the earlier rituals, God was referred to as: God Of All Things, thus GOAT. In the early Sears & Roebuck catalogs, they sold quite a few Masonic and other Fraternal pieces of jewelry, so perhaps buttons were also made. Super neat find Breezie

 

[Dano Sverige]

Charlie Daniels - The Devil went down to Georgia.....Lol, it does look like the devil fiddling over another victim to me though!

 

[dwayne sueno]

lots of great ideas.
i will look into the masonic images and see if
i can match something up. thank you.

 

[yaxthri]

Since all are guessing...
I think this is a fiddling guy with a swallowtail frock and a broad hat with feathers...