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3rd August 2009, 01:03 AM | #1 |
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A challenge ... what would this be?
The seller doesn't know ... and neither do i
It is in wood and about 5" long. Any guess, Gentlemen? Fernando . |
3rd August 2009, 01:11 AM | #2 | |
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3rd August 2009, 02:30 AM | #3 | |
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3rd August 2009, 04:22 AM | #4 |
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Hi Fernando,
You are the master of esoteric acquisitions! Without context or any note of provenance, it would of course be really hard to say exactly what this might be, but the crosses would suggest the obvious Christian associations, and this would possibly be a votive of some kind. Such items were often created in symbolic images, but at this point it would be tough to guess. All the best, Jim |
3rd August 2009, 01:56 PM | #5 | |
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Hi Rick,
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Is this the meaning? Fernando |
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3rd August 2009, 02:06 PM | #6 |
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Hi Fernando,
You are correct Sir . I needed to laugh a bit last night; my apologies . Do we have an origin for this piece ? |
3rd August 2009, 02:19 PM | #7 | ||
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3rd August 2009, 01:17 PM | #8 | |
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Why didn't i think of that, in the first place? ... used by the priest to throw the communion wafers into the congregants mouths; good to avoid H1N1 contamination . Fernando |
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3rd August 2009, 01:48 PM | #9 |
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Hi Jim,
Thanks for the hint . No, no context or provenance, except that this is a Christian influenced region and, as you well suggest, the crosses are a symbolic reminder. Only i think they are just alegoric and the object might as well be some kind of utensil, not necessarily with a direct connection to religious paraphernalia. Fernando |
4th August 2009, 07:05 PM | #10 |
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It does have a bit of an African look, so with the Christian imagery, this would point to Highland Ethiopia. Ethiopian priests did carry hand crosses in procession usually made of metal...
Just a guess |
4th August 2009, 08:44 PM | #11 |
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Let's avoid making silly comments about religious practises, such as Holy Communion, which I for one take quite seriously. Having said that, I believe this is an Ethiopian SISTRUM. It is missing the top part with the metal disks.
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4th August 2009, 10:17 PM | #12 |
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Hi Roanoa,
Do you have an example sistrum that looks like this? Most of the "ethiopian" sistrums shown on Google have much thinner uprights, and I'd expect to see holes drilled through it to hold the disks if it was a sistrum. Neat object. I didn't know what a lucet was until Jeff brought it up. Best, F |
5th August 2009, 04:30 AM | #13 |
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I looked up Google Images for "lucet" and there is indeed a strong similarity, though there is no hole beneath the "fork". The reason why I suggested a sistrum is because of the religious symbols. A simple string could be tied to the fork and there really is no need for holes to be drilled. Again, on Google Images I found a "How to make a sistrum" with a wooden fork and a string (plus the metal disks). So I still believe it is a possibility, though, of corse, I cannot be sure....
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5th August 2009, 01:49 PM | #14 |
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not all the lucets i saw in the internet had holes. i'm tending towards that option. even monks or nuns would have done something like lucetting to occupy their time and make useful cords.
of course, it is also likely to be a plumber's tool. |
5th August 2009, 06:27 PM | #15 | |
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5th August 2009, 11:06 PM | #16 | ||
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BTW, did you know that the sistrum, provenant from the egiptian cult to Isis, was forbidden in the VI century Concilium? So true that it maintained its existence with Copta Christianism until present days. Fernando Last edited by fernando; 6th August 2009 at 12:36 PM. Reason: word addition- phrase correction |
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5th August 2009, 11:24 PM | #17 |
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Thank you all for your sugestions, Gentlemen.
This exercize of trying to find out what an unkown thing is, can be a fascinating theme, specially because of the variety of sugestions put up. So far we have a lucet, a slingshot ( ), a plumbers tool, a hand cross, and a war club ( ). Although the lucet seems to be the closest sugestion, i don't think it is one; but i am not based in any evidence to so think. I could swear it is not from Yorkshire ; i am more certain of that than of the eventualy that it might be a weapon . Fernando. |
6th August 2009, 01:55 AM | #18 |
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Could it be a distaff?
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6th August 2009, 07:18 AM | #19 | |
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