Help - What is this?

RENSHAW

Official Camino Vino taster

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

2003 CF Ronces to Santiago
Hospi San Anton 2016.

• Mar 19, 2017

• #1

Okay , so it is not Camino related but I'm pretty sure is has Christian overtones and also with all the knowledge out there ....................... ??
I love to dabble in collectables - This piece is slightly larger than a teaspoon but it weighs in at a hefty 62.6g.
I can write with it like a hard pencil suggesting that it could be solid silver? There is no visible corrosion but for pitting.
It seem very old?
What I have noticed: A winged angel
Serpents or snakes below the angel
The inscription jnc?
A large twirled snake at the bottom?
I found it among kitchenware - could it be a medicinal grinder for medicinal remedies?

 

Bradypus

Migratory hermit

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Too many and too often!

• Mar 19, 2017

• #2

Not 100% sure but it may be an aspergillum - used for sprinkling holy water. They come in all sorts of designs. The "ihc" on the handle is quite a common contraction of the Greek for "Christ".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christogram

 

Last edited: Mar 19, 2017

RENSHAW

Official Camino Vino taster

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

2003 CF Ronces to Santiago
Hospi San Anton 2016.

• Mar 19, 2017

• #3

Bradypus said:

Not 100% sure but it may be an aspergillum - used for sprinkling holy water. They come in all sorts of designs. The "ihc" on the handle is quite a common contraction of the Greek for "Christ".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christogram

Click to expand...

Thanx , I that was one of my first thoughts too.

 

Purple Backpack

Active Member

Time of past OR future Camino

CF’12 VF’16 VP w/variants 2022/23 Norte’23

• Mar 20, 2017

• #4

Could it be used for mixing water and wine? Perhaps that explains the pitting? I've looked online and can find nothing remotely like this but there were apothecary tools from the US colonial period with a similar bottom, no angel head.

The angel head resembles the same angel with attached wings found in 17th century cemeteries.

Could be used to stir a mean martini today.

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2017

Rebekah Scott

Camino Busybody

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Many, various, and continuing.

• Mar 20, 2017

• #5

I think it may be a yad, a pointer for keeping your place while you're reading the daily Torah portion aloud in temple. They're often heavy and decorated, expensive gifts for Bar Mitzvahs. My Hebrew is way out of date, perhaps those are initials of the Bar Mitzvah, or the rabbi who used it. Take it down to your local Judaica store and ask them what they think.

 

Bradypus

Migratory hermit

Donating Member

Time of past OR future Camino

Too many and too often!

• Mar 20, 2017

• #6

Rebekah Scott said:

I think it may be a yad, a pointer for keeping your place while you're reading the daily Torah portion aloud in temple.

Click to expand...

Don't think so @Rebekah Scott . The bulbous end would obscure the text - a yad usually has a very long tapering point, often shaped like a finger. Also Jewish religious art generally avoids depictions of the human face, especially in sculptural forms, and I don't think anyone would put one on a yad which is so closely associated with the Torah.

 

Last edited: Mar 20, 2017