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?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
P.S. Sorry about the badly focussed lower phone-camera picture.
ReplyDeleteSnuff box?
ReplyDeleteor libation cup maybe. I see it has a pouring spout at one end.
DeleteThe 'spout' is on three sides, so I don't think so. Definitely not a snuff box.
DeleteBrush holder ( for writing calligraphy brushes)?
ReplyDeleteI wrote this before reading your ideas
DeleteYes, that is my thought also, but if I knew the country of origin, it would make finding other examples to compare that much easier.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeleteI did a Google image search and it found nothing.
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.
ReplyDeleteObviously, I have Googled it as well, but thanks, Raz.
DeleteIt's not a wine glass. But it might be a Burmese inkwell.
ReplyDeleteLooking 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.
DeleteYou are now looking at it through the bottom of a real wine glass, that's why.
DeleteYes, that is true but I stick with my theory. It now also looks like something rude.
DeleteIsn't calling it 'ugly' and opinion, not a theory?
DeleteYes, it is an opinion. It hasn't had any ink in either.
DeleteI 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.
DeleteI have no help at all to offer - just another question.
ReplyDeleteHow 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?
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.
DeleteIt looks like an oil lamp minus the second hole. I thought inkwells usually had lids?
ReplyDeleteNo, not an oil-lamp and not all paint pots had lids.
DeleteWhat 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.
ReplyDeleteIt would be pre-Islamic, but I don't know how pre, or how post.
Deletecould 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.
ReplyDeleteHmm. 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.
DeleteNow 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!!
DeleteI'm supposed to be that particular expert.
DeleteOh dear, it's my missing baby shoe!
ReplyDeleteI would be more worried about the other one, and how baby is...
DeleteI 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...
ReplyDeleteSorry, got a bit carried away there with my theory!
I'll send you the Raiders of the Lost Ark theory as soon as I have a moment.
DeleteI 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.
ReplyDeletecan you post again when you find out what it is
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.
DeleteBoth beautiful, but no idea. Rather fancy the idea of Sol's lamp.
ReplyDeleteI entertained that possibility, but only for about 30 seconds. It's a paint-pot.
DeleteIt's a piss pot for English gremlins :) :) !
ReplyDeleteSo long as they stay inside the tent, then that's fine.
DeleteHaving looked at it again, I think it's an early ash tray.
ReplyDeleteBLEURRRGH!
DeleteIt could be for wax.
ReplyDeleteFor waxing?
DeleteA Brazilian of course.
DeleteOne flap at a time, sweet Jesus.....
DeleteIncense do-da? I like your theory best and, by the way, Blogger is saying your thunder storm post doesn't exist....
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't exist any longer, I took it down. No, I don't think it's an incense do da, but good suggestion.
Delete