Neat Find Need Help IDing

[jason4kstate]

Neat Find Need Help ID'ing

Found this for a $1 at a garage sale. I think its some sort of Aztec calendar but I'm not sure. Any idea on what it is used for or what it is exactly? It made of porcelain and everything looks hand etched.

 

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[desertmoons]

Looks like a sun and moon decorative piece from the Andes's region. I think that is a llama on it. And if that is a vulture, again it would be farther south than mexico i suspect. The moons lips and eyes seem to suggest it is modern.

 

[desertmoons]

There was a site of the lord vulture found down that way too.

 

[Tallone]

The bird on the back looks like an Andean Condor.

If that is a Llama, it doesn't look much like a real one.

 

[Dak]

maybe its a Chupacabra

 

[diggummup]

You sure it's porcelain? Seems like a strange material for such an object. I would think bone would be more appropriate, though I don't see any evidence of that when enlarged. Could it possibly be resin?

 

[jason4kstate]

When I tap the plate it sounds like porcelain. At first glance I also thought it was bone. Thanks for the help!

 

[Beachkid23]

I'm thinking it's some type of myan, Aztec or Indian calendar. Guessing made of camel bone. If not camel, some other kinda bone. If you have a loop you can look up close and see if it's porous or smooth. Other then that, I can't find any like it.

 

[Beachkid23]

Try researching Hindu calendars.

 

[Tallone]

In your first photo, at the 12 o'clock position on the outer ring, there is an image of an animal that looks very much like a llama. On the inner ring at the 10 o'clock position is another image of a condor.

The other animal on the back might be an Andean cat.

I pretty well convinced this is of South American origin, probably Peru, which would suggest the Inca culture.

Might this be made of some kind of mollusc shell? There is a shell image at the 9 o'clock position on the inner ring. Shell would appear much like porcelain.

 

[diggummup]

Size?

 

[Tallone]

Size?

Of the cat? I have no idea. I was just searching for images of animals of the Andes mountains that resemble the beast on this piece. The Andean Cat was the closest I could find. The renderings on the piece aren't necessarily to scale so I don't know that the size of a real cat compared to the size of a real condor (a very large bird, by the way) are of any use in IDing that four-legged, pointy-eared beast. That jaw line sure doesn't look feline to me but I don't think that means much either.

jason4kstate, how big is this thing? You referred to it as a "plate" which suggests it is rather large. If it is more than a few inches across, it would take a very large mollusc to produce a flat piece of shell that size. I'm also curious about the two light-colored diagonal lines running diagonally across the piece. These lines appear to go all the way through front-to-back.

I found an item that has a resemblance (sort of) to this piece here: Andean Symbology Tile - Condor - Round

 

[diggummup]

Of the cat?

No, the object in question.

 

[Nugget Hog]

It looks like some kind of stone to me. Maybe quartz? What is the size and thickness?

 

[frankendime]

Could it be tourist crap?

 

[jerseyben]

Could it be tourist crap?

That was my first thought when I first saw it.

 

[OldSowBreath]

Grasshoppers, one thing I do when contemplating a purchase at a garage or estate sale is to look around and see if there is evidence of where the sellers have been. Guide books, maps, framed pictures of them at the Cavern of the Withered Sun Virgin,etc. often give me clues as to the origins of said tourist crap I'm about to purchase. (no offense to anyone).