todays brass find

[jrwill56]

today's brass find

ok guys today's plantation find, brass base 3 1/4"x 3 1/4" 1/8" holes on 4 corners, one 3/4" hole, one 5/16" hole, one 1/4" hole, 1/2" square hole shaft 2 1/2"
high . weighs 6 oz. found about 12" deep look like a plow strike on edge and top of square shaft. does not look broken.

help me guys

 

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[Breezie]

It reminds me of a base for a vintage car jack; say from the 1920's or earlier. It also looks similar to a base used on the vintage shoe shine chair that would hold the foot prop, but most of those had 2 arms. At any rate, I think it is safe to say it is some type of base. Interesting find Breezie

 

[Paleopilot]

It reminds me of a base for a vintage car jack; say from the 1920's or earlier. It also looks similar to a base used on the vintage shoe shine chair that would hold the foot prop, but most of those had 2 arms. At any rate, I think it is safe to say it is some type of base. Interesting find Breezie

I think your getting close Breezie, it looks to be really worn around the edges like you would expect from a table leg mount or something of that nature. The holes in the corners don't have any marks that would be indicative of bolts or screws, you know, there would be some indentation left around the holes. That has me wondering how it was mounted and to what.

 

[jrwill56]

thanks breezie, but what function would the different size holes have?

 

[jrwill56]

wonder if was used in a vise, for forming ,or bending ?

 

[Breezie]

thanks breezie, but what function would the different size holes have?

JR,
That's a good question, and my educated guess would be for re-use as another item. Judging by the patina on the brass, I think it is safe to say it has some age on it. Years ago, people were not wasteful, and they would convert an unused item for re-use. I'm assuming the 4 holes on the corners were original as well as the vertical base holder. Used this way it could have been for a cobbler for repairing shoes, a shoeshine foot prop, a jack stand, or even a flag holder.

I think those extra holes could have been added later in its life to suit whatever the needs were for whatever it became. I don't know if there is anyway to know this for sure, but I think you could check the rim of each of the corner holes and compare it to the larger ones to see if the patina is the same. This might or might not be reliable because if it were converted, we don't know how close the conversion was to the original use. I guess it worth a look-see anyway.

Breezie

 

[jrwill56]

could this started out as a wall sconce for a candle /or gas light? it does appear to have been plated,silver