Wednesday 17 September 2014

Mystery object - your help needed


Here's something to take your mind off things for a brief moment - what is it?

All I know is that it is made from a marble-like, mottled stone; is about 6 inches long; has a floral motif around the top half; a stylised lion's head with a grinning, toothy, human smile; a roughly carved well in the centre and three grooves which slope downwards - making cigarettes difficult to balance, before you say it is an ashtray.

It does not look English, and it appears to be very old - it has traces of mud in the recesses which indicates that it has been dug up.

My initial feeling is that it is an inkwell or paint-container, and the three grooves are to rest pens or brushes with their ends on a table.

Your help would be greatly appreciated - especially your qualified help if you work for the British Museum. Any conjecture would be appreciated as well.


Mini update: I am pretty sure this is a calligraphic inkwell (see photo below of a traditional but new, Chinese one which also has lion motif) but I would like to be sure of the country. It looks more Indian or Persian to me, and not Chinese. Any experts out there?


45 comments:

  1. P.S. Sorry about the badly focussed lower phone-camera picture.

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  2. Replies
    1. or libation cup maybe. I see it has a pouring spout at one end.

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    2. The 'spout' is on three sides, so I don't think so. Definitely not a snuff box.

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  3. Brush holder ( for writing calligraphy brushes)?

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    1. I wrote this before reading your ideas

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    2. Yes, that is my thought also, but if I knew the country of origin, it would make finding other examples to compare that much easier.

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  4. I think it was to hold calligraphy brushes which would have been laid with the handle on the table and the tip of the brush over the ink/paint. The angles of those sloped notches would be about right I think. Only thing is, if that were the case, the inside would be stained by ink.

    I did a Google image search and it found nothing.

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  5. Just saw your updated photo. I would love to know the origin of this. Hopefully someone can shed light. It's a very nice piece.

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    1. Obviously, I have Googled it as well, but thanks, Raz.

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  6. It's not a wine glass. But it might be a Burmese inkwell.

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    1. Looking at it on the computer tonight, as opposed to the phone today, I cant see what it is except that it still isn't a wine glass and it is ugly.

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    2. You are now looking at it through the bottom of a real wine glass, that's why.

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    3. Yes, that is true but I stick with my theory. It now also looks like something rude.

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    4. Isn't calling it 'ugly' and opinion, not a theory?

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    5. Yes, it is an opinion. It hasn't had any ink in either.

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    6. I think it has. There are some feint black stains in the base of the well which don't relate to any of the other colour. I - and H.I. - thought they were writing when we first noticed them.

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  7. I have no help at all to offer - just another question.
    How did you acquire this? Do you have some colorful story involving the ruins of an abbey or the attic of some long-lost aristocratic relative?

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    1. I would like to give you the Indiana Jones version, but I don't have the time right now - I bought it from a dealer.

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  8. It looks like an oil lamp minus the second hole. I thought inkwells usually had lids?

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    1. No, not an oil-lamp and not all paint pots had lids.

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  9. What a tiny treasure. My guess is that it is Persian because if it were Asian, the carving would be much more elaborate than the primitive style that it is.

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    1. It would be pre-Islamic, but I don't know how pre, or how post.

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  10. could it be Eastern European or further north, rather than your Eastern guess? My first guess was a pen rest, so we have some concensus. the decoration on the sides might be mediaeval, the face looks dark ages to me.... just guessing.

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    1. Hmm. Interesting idea. The trouble is that lions permeated all art in all countries, so it is a slim possibility. The stone is not familiar to me, though.

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    2. Now I'm curious not just about the thing itself, but how does one determine the kind of stone that it is? Are there some students at a geologist school campus that you could waylay to get more information? We're on a treasure hunt here, people!!

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    3. I'm supposed to be that particular expert.

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  11. Oh dear, it's my missing baby shoe!

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    1. I would be more worried about the other one, and how baby is...

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  12. I think it looks English, the floral motif looks Celtic and the head looks like a gargoyle from any number of English Cathedrals. I can see it being the treasured possession of a monk from Lindisfarne. I can picture him now, sitting...

    Sorry, got a bit carried away there with my theory!

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    1. I'll send you the Raiders of the Lost Ark theory as soon as I have a moment.

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  13. I agree in Country side tales. I think this is a lamp. The wicks are laid in the indent. then oil is poured in the centre. being fanciful and taking from what others have said. maybe it was a Pilgrim's and the dropped it when walking.

    can you post again when you find out what it is

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    1. The wicks would be draped onto the table if it were a lamp - that's a bit of a hazard. Also, they would be in direct contact with the stone, and there's no heat damage.

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  14. Both beautiful, but no idea. Rather fancy the idea of Sol's lamp.

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    1. I entertained that possibility, but only for about 30 seconds. It's a paint-pot.

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  15. It's a piss pot for English gremlins :) :) !

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    1. So long as they stay inside the tent, then that's fine.

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  16. Having looked at it again, I think it's an early ash tray.

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  17. Incense do-da? I like your theory best and, by the way, Blogger is saying your thunder storm post doesn't exist....

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    1. It doesn't exist any longer, I took it down. No, I don't think it's an incense do da, but good suggestion.

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