Metal Plaque?

[Colonel Ken]

Does anyone have any idea what this is and what the significance of the pressed children?

The metal plate is about 13.5 inches long x 5 inches wide. Seems to be brass or copper and the face is plated with what appears to be stainless steel. There are eight children adorned with a long vine or what also looks like a Hawaiian Lei. The images are probably pressed in. There are also two metal loops to hang this plaque on the wall.

I dug this up in Hawaii while looking for bottles. At first I thought the metal peice was an old license plate. Next to this was a sterling silver spoon.

Aloha

COL Ken

 

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[Colonel Ken]

Yikes, I sure hope that the piece didn't come from a coffin I have no idea how to, or if I should even clean it up.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Are they all male? Could they be dancing cherubs or putti? http://www.abdn.ac.uk/jacobitevirtuosi/image7.php

http://www.dtydirect.com/Orlandi-St...ferralID=8ce39fa8-a205-11e0-891e-001b2166c2c0

 

[Tnmountains]

They do look fat like cherubs?

 

[ohioaxeman]

no chance it was the top of a coffin/casket could it? It's really pretty.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-1880S-S...874753?pt=Antiques_Silver&hash=item5190834c01

If it is, you stopped digging at the right time!

 

[NolanTheExplorer]

im thinking it was made in order to be pressed against plaster. i bet it would leave a beautiful accent along crown molding, etc.

Ramble on,
DHD

 

[Colonel Ken]

Thanks everyone for the input. The dancers do look like Putti. Don't Cherubs normally have wings? DHD: The back does not have the details that the front of the plate does, the silver like like plating on the front and the two hanging hooks on the back makes me think that the piece was hung on a wall.

texastee: At first the engraving on the spoon looks looked like the letter R. Now that you mentioned the possibility of an oriental character I do see characteristics similar to Kanji. I can't tell if they are all males. One figure looks feminine, but her/his leg blocks the telling site

OAM: The soil on Oahu is a little acidic, but where we are digging the soil is not very abrasive. The island of Hawaii, near recent lava flows, is where the very abrasive soil is. Most islands just have reddish dirt that stain everything.

Thanks again everyone.
COL Ken

 

[Colonel Ken]

TexasTee,
The items that you circled were mostly old broken pottery, bottles, and iron. Go to the Hawaii site and click on the Finds-Hawaii link. There are several posts there that others have shared what they've found in the same lot. Several early 1900s bottles, tea cups, and a license plate was found.

Aloha
COL Ken

 

[808beginnerdigger]

Holy mother load....I wish I could dig that deep here in this concrete soil. What are all the interesting things you have there?

I believe the top left was a "terminal" still hooked up to a lengthy electrical cable that was discarded in that dump. Aloha!