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Antiques! => Antique Questions Forum => Topic started by: bob535 on February 26, 2011, 02:02:53 PM
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I just wanted to share this. This thing has been in my family for as ling as I can remember. I don't know much about it except that I had seen this thing on a "what not" what not shelf in my grandparents house when I was a kid. I don't know why HAHA.
I was told it is a tourist ash tray, but that is it.
I did something I should not have done, but I wanted to see if I could get more info on the mark. I cleaned the bottom of it. doh!!
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee472/bobby2064/IMG_0628.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee472/bobby2064/IMG_0629.jpg)
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Sure wish you had not cleaned the bottom. Only a glare now, can`t see it well enough to read. Guessing its possibly a Native American piece. And could have been a tourist piece but some of those are worth bucks now !!
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Thanks mart....I really wish I didn't clean it also :'( I will try to get a better picture of the bottom in a little bit. I can tell you that the writing below the picture is very hard to read...this is what it looks like to me an S an O an B and maybe a K....but this is coming from someone that could not see "Made in China" staring me in the face on another piece.....LOLOL ;D
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Okay I tried, and I got two more pictures, this is as good as I am going to get I think.
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee472/bobby2064/IMG_0641.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee472/bobby2064/IMG_0640.jpg)
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I wonder if a rubbing would work?
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Hmmm I'm willing to try, how would I go about doing that?? ;D
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Take a piece of paper (thin is best) and lay it across the bottom where the marks are. Lightly rub with the side edge of a pencil lead. The edge of the marks on the piece will catch the pencil lead making a darker spot. Not really sure if it will work but might be worth a try...
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I'll give that a try
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Thanks Oceans, just looked at the second pics and thought about a rubbing. Couild be just the piece but almost looks animal like in the first pic. Second ones are way dark !!
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I haven't gotten around to the rubbing yet, but the head on the back looks a lot like the guy in the picture below. It is the Babylonian god Marduk. I'm not saying that's who it is, but looks a lot like him.
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee472/bobby2064/Marduk.jpg)
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FINALLY!!!!! I knew I had a pic on this computer somewhere of this thing before I cleaned the bottom. Does this help any??
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee472/bobby2064/devilhead.jpg)
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Now I sure wish you had not cleaned it. Thats a good pic but still can`t see the writing !! Not Native American thats for sure. Do you know where your parents got it ?? Did they ever travel to GB ??
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The interior of the piece appears "charred" or "smoke coated". Could this be an incense burner? My mother's family had several of these, one was a Buddha sitting crosslegged with a "tray" on his crossed legs, you put the incense in the tray and burned it. Another was an elephant in ceremonial garb.
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My Grand parents were mountain folks, who left the mountains for Northern VA maybe in their mid to late 20's. I don't think coal mining was something my grandpa wanted to do, but I can't say for sure that is why they moved. Anyways they never really did any traveling outside of visiting places in the VA MD PA KY TN area until much later.
BUT one of my Grandpa's brothers was in the army back in WWII, it could have maybe been a gift from him?? I don't know much about him except for the fact that he was in WWII.
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He said in thefirst post that they said it was a tourist ash tray. Could have been used as ash tray at some point. That might account for the dark interior. The figure on the bottom looks similar to a figure I saw once at an archeological dig in Great Britain. TV had a documentary on it but its been a while since I have seen it. Can`t even remember the name of the show !! Wish Mario or Gingertomantiques would chime in here.
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:o now I'm really curious, I wish they would chime in too!! ;D
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Many things were brought back during WW2 and after. Not as many restrictions back then !!
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Hi,
I've found one identical to yours
http://www.tias.com/cgi-bin/showcase-item.cgi?itemKey=3923222628&store=/stores/fj
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Sorry ... I've never seen anything like that over here .. but that means nothing. I was thinking 'Mexico' ... then found the above, but it doesn't tell us much more. It's not the same one is it???
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It is very similar, but not exactly the same. The one I have is more rounded, and in my opinion looks better, but I am biased ;D That is interesting though. Maybe it is just a plain old tourist ash tray, but the mark on mine is what makes it stand out to me. WHo knows what it could be though. Maybe someone was bored one day??
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Sorry .. I didn't really compare them ... It just seemed to match the image I had of it :(
I am still thinking Mexico for some reason.
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Ohh and after looking at the other picture that one seems to be more flat. Mine is shaped more like a ball (round).
This is a tough one, and i don't know if i ever expect to find an answer about the mark, but it is a good conversation piece ;D
Thank you guys for trying!!
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I could see it being Mexico
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A similar styled one here
http://cgi.ebay.com/Brass-WALL-MOUNT-DEVIL-HEAD-beer-soda-BOTTLE-OPENER-to_W0QQitemZ380318608918QQcategoryZ75512QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp4340.m26
Could be copying an original piece? Who knows?
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I'm not really sure what the standard definition of tourist item is but when I hear that, I think mass produced. Kind of unusual to have such a detailed mark on a mass produced item - wouldn't you think? Or can something like that be produced from a mold?
I thought Inca but it's an unusual crown. Design looks closer to Aztec but neither really fit the bill here... The closest I got to the crown was this: http://history.howstuffworks.com/south-american-history/inca-pictures6.htm but I haven't spent a lot of time...
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Bob - Can you take a guess at what letters you are seeing? I guessed INKIK and there is a place in Africa (Eastern) named that. When I think of metal items, I usually don't think of Africa tho...
http://geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=-2011552&fid=3993&c=mauritania
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I have been watching this one and am wondering....is the piece pottery or metal?
Looks to be a molded item that has been hand marked on the back when it was still not "set up" properly.
These types of items were very popular in the mid 1900's for smoking/tobaccomania! Thus the devil with smoke coming out of his mouth!
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Sure, I could be way off, because if it is what i think it is, it would be a mixture of cursive writing and printed letters.
To me is looks like the letters may be S O B maybe an I and K
Here is a pic of how i came up with that:
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee472/bobby2064/devilhead2.jpg)
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It is bronze I believe, or a type of metal close to it. It is pretty heavy.
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To make it easier to compare what I think it is:
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee472/bobby2064/devilhead2.jpg)
(http://i1229.photobucket.com/albums/ee472/bobby2064/devilhead.jpg)
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mario that second link is a lit closer, I wish they gave some background in the description ;D
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I e-mailed FamilyJewels (the first link) and asked if theirs had any markings on it ... Lisa replied very promptly ;D but theirs is not marked at all ... Not sure what that means for yours ??? :-\
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Oh wow, thanks a lot for going that far!! I don't know what it means for mine either, but it is good info ;D
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What made me think GB was the figure has a collar and netted hair. Or that is what it seems to look like to me.
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What made me think GB was the figure has a collar and netted hair. Or that is what it seems to look like to me.
The more I look at it the more confused I get about what I actually am seeing :-\
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To me I think the mark does look like it could be a king of European sorts, the style of the piece itself though I could see being Mexican/Indian/Egyptian/Incan I am just so confused about it HAHA.
Have you ever seen the show oddities? It is an interesting show I think comes on A&E or a channel similar. I emailed them about it a while back, and they responded pretty quick. That is who told me it was a tourist ash tray. He said he has never seen one quite like it, and that it was nice, but could not tell me anything about the mark except for the fact it "looked" Babylonian.
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Yes I watch Oddities !! I watch everything like that !! I would hate to disagree but,, I have seen a very similar figure, just can`t remember the name of the show. It was at a dig in GB thats all I remember. Memory is not too good on some things,, but is very good on others. Maybe if I sleep on it,,,,,it will come to me !!
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Yes I am very curious about that show you seen too. I hope it comes to mind...If not that's okay too, but sure would be cool if it did ;D
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I will do my best but don`t put money on it !! Its been a long time since it was on.