Not sure what i have here!

[Mudflap333]

I picked up this piece at a swap meet in SanFran. The women I bought it from said she got it at the estate sale of a couple that use to travel in Eastern Europe allot. Has anyone seen anything similar or have any idea where I should start investigating. Or if its just a modern piece made to look old. Thanks

 

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[BosnMate]

How big is it? The truth is though, if I know the size I still won't have any idea of what it is.

 

[capt-zero]

I am a big fan of garage sales and estate sales, and that is one big problem; trying to track down and authenticate purchases. I can't help with this one, but it kind of looks like it was suppose to hang upside down from the loop on the bottom. Very interesting piece. I probably would have picked it up myself.

 

[capt-zero]

It occurred to me, after my other post, that a clue may be found in the base. Namely, how is it fastened? If threaded, are the threads hand forged? Does it have a modern nut holding it in place? Also, what material and what carpentry methods were used to make the base. Can you show some close-ups of the base and it's bottom?

 

[Mudflap333]

The base is just a wooden block. I believe the base was added much later meaning the piece was not originally free standing. There is no bolt holding the piece to the base, it looks like it was just punched into the block of wood. To me it looks like a human figure in a robe with maybe a staff? I know it's hard to see from the pictures so I will add some close ups.

 

[Mekong Mike]

looks authentic...maybe a soldier with a chain mail helmet. Copper ?

It might be a very old battle medal awarded to some soldier.

 

[mojjax]

Doorknocker ?

 

[capt-zero]

Still can't figure how it's fastened to the block. A very interesting piece. Actually it looks more like some of the Russian avant garde work done in the early 20th century before the Bolshevics quashed the movement. If it was, though, I would expect a finely finished base.

 

[DizzyDigger]

Oddly, the wood base in the third pic (top right) sure looks
to have been cut with a modern, round bladed power saw.

 

[unclemac]

base could be added at any time after it was made....are you sure that is not a woman?

 

[calisdad]

My wild guess is a bell clapper.

 

[FeS2]

Looks like it was functional in some way. The chest is flattened as though to hold something there. And there is that little bump on the back.

A bell clapper is a really good guess, but if it were a clapper made to hang upside down would the widest part be so close to the top of the bell? As a clapper it wouldn't hit the edge of the bell unless the bell were a lot smaller than this object is. And why make it flat and asymmetric?

Like the patina. Please don't clean the patina off.

 

[Mudflap333]

At first I thought woman to because of the two bumps high up on the torso (if its a statue of a person) but now that someone mentioned that the head looks to have a helmet, which I believe it does with the broad nose guard. Those two bumps make me think of a clasp that holds a cloak together.

 

[Mudflap333]

I was able to separate it from the base. It had just been punched in, no glue or bolt. Attached are the pictures of the bottom of the piece. And thanks everyone for taking the time to help figure out what this might be.

 

[CRUSADER]

It looks like some 2000+ old but the patination worries me a little.

 

[Mudflap333]

It looks like some 2000+ old but the patination worries me a little.

Are you thinking it could be fake? Added to give of the appearance of age? Is there a way a person can test at home without damaging the piece?

 

[capt-zero]

I am far from expert, but I know of no way to tell for sure the age of bronze. Whatever it's use may have been (if any), it's a beautiful piece. Were it me though, I would probably fashion or have fashioned a fancy base for it.

 

[CRUSADER]

Are you thinking it could be fake? Added to give of the appearance of age? Is there a way a person can test at home without damaging the piece?

Not so much a fake but a tourist souvenir, if my gut is right on this. The patchy bluey-green patination is consistant with chemically aged bronze (copper-alloy). Also the almost deliberately poor casting. Even 2000+ years ago, a skilled metal worker would be pissed with the way that one came out. However, its only my gut feeling based on my experience & the photo's provided.

 

[pippinwhitepaws]

 

[DCMatt]

Not so much a fake but a tourist souvenir, if my gut is right on this. The patchy bluey-green patination is consistant with chemically aged bronze (copper-alloy). Also the almost deliberately poor casting. Even 2000+ years ago, a skilled metal worker would be pissed with the way that one came out. However, its only my gut feeling based on my experience & the photo's provided.

But even as a tourist souvenir, what does it represent? Does it have some function? It appears to me to be a part of a larger object or possibly a tool - but for what?

That said, if there is no obvious ID of the object, why would someone buy it (or fake it for that matter) as a tourist souvenir?

I can hear the conversation when the traveller returns home:

Friend: Oh, what do have here on your shelf?

Traveller: I'm glad you noticed that. It is a modern hunk of bronze that was chemically aged and has no apparent use. Totally unidentifiable, in fact. I bought for no apparent reason and now I can't even remember why. Paid quite a lot for it as I recall.

Friend: Hmmm... Interesting... Well, I've got to go now.