Possible womens buckle or brooch with symbols?

[Trajady]

I've been trying to figure something out on this object I dug up recently. It seems to be made of copper, and has an interesting engraving on it. It shows a woman with some sort of head gear, possibly a bird. It also has 4 symbols in front of her that you can kind of make out in one of the picture. The symbols are a bird on top, then a line like a wave or mountain tops, then a reverse check mark and then possibly a lamp at the bottom. There are precise lines on it and a design you can see on the back of the womans head. There is nothing on the back of this. The symbols to the right of the womans head are what intrigue me the most. I'm hoping someone will be familiar with something in the picture. All help is much appreciated.

 

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[Harry_Morant]

It could be meant to be a stylised figure of Cleopatra or Minerva - it reminds me of the Art Nouveau work of Alphonse Mucha

 

[Trajady]

Thanks for the insight @Harry_Morant. They both look like a possibility. I still can't find anything on the symbols yet. I've tried to compare them to egyptian, Incan, Mayan, Greek, and haven't found anything yet. I feel like the lines on the headdress might tell us something too, if its a style related to a certain area.

 

[Breezie]

Judging by your pics, you have an Art Nouveau ladies 'filigree' buckle. During the Art N. period, head/bust were used quite frequently as inspiration for art. It was a period of time when women were gaining strength for independence. They were struggling for suffrage, right to divorce, etc., but during this gain for independence, women were alluringly sexual and somewhat scandalous. (Sex sells.) Artist found this quite interesting, thus the use of woman's head in some type of 'powerful' looking portrayal.

Neat find
Breezie

 

[Trajady]

Thanks for the great info @Breezie. That gave me some more to search for while trying to find something similar to this. I am new to the metal detecting life so I will probably have to get used to it, but I always hope I'll be able to find a picture of the exact same object somewhere.

 

[DCMatt]

Definitely Cleopatra. Those symbols are Egyptian hieroglyphics and there is a goofing looking asp (snake) in front of her face. As stated by Breezie - ladies dress buckle.

DCMatt