What Is It - From 1700s Farm House

[Erik in NJ]

What Is It - From 1700's Farm House

This item came from the grounds of a 1700's farmhouse. It's quite heavy and appears to be made of lead or peweter. I'm not sure what the substrate metal is. There was a wire or two emerging at 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock which have rusted away. The dimensions are about 2" x 2". Thanks for any insight.

 

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[Erik in NJ]

Re: What Is It - From 1700's Farm House

OK, since no one has replied I will state my opinion on this - I thought it was some sort of old lead seal since the wires that went through it were probably wrapped around an object. Only thing that is throwing me if is the metal disc that it's attached to....ever seen anything like this

 

[DCMatt]

Re: What Is It - From 1700's Farm House

I think it is too big to be a lead seal. At least I've never seen one that size.

Maybe a lead filled horse rosette?

Are you sure the rusted parts were wires and not something bigger/thicker?

DCMatt

 

[Erik in NJ]

Re: What Is It - From 1700's Farm House

Funny, I was thinking last night when I posted the dimensions as 2" x 2" that it might be a horse rosette as they all seem to be that size. I'm not sure what the wires did, you can see the remnants in the pic. About 1/4" of one broke off when I recovered the item as it was rusted through (I could not find it). Will take a closer look at rusted wires tonight with jeweler's loupe and report back.

Thanks for your post!!

 

[fume happy]

Re: What Is It - From 1700's Farm House

Could be a mangled clock pendulum bob, especially if it's lead. Would have had a thin piece of brass facing crimped over it if that was the case, and the rod through the middle would have been threaded on one side to allow for regulation with a nut.

 

[timekiller]

Re: What Is It - From 1700's Farm House

Yea it's a tough one to make a possitive ID on.But I'll through out a guess that it could be some type of closure to a jar or jug maybe.
http://www.antiquebottles.com/closures/

 

[Erik in NJ]

Re: What Is It - From 1700's Farm House

Thanks FH & TK!

Yes TK, I should have mentioned in my second post that I thought it to be either a lead seal or cap to some sort of bottle or jug that was secured with a wire. I'll try to get a better pic of where the wires come out of it tonight. As I recall, it seemed like one on one side and two on the other. The metal plate looks as though it may have been a cap and the lead (?) blob affixed the wires to it and added mass.

Re the rosette, there don't seem to be any mounting points and regarding the pendulum, no attachment point.