Ancient? vase found in Missouri?

[montepollock]

A friend found this about 15' while digging a farm pond near Nevada(SW)Missouri.
it is not Bronze but a spelter/Zinc composition? with Gray patina.
I don,t Know how well the photos came out but it shows a turtle carrying the world on its back with a snake running thru it,a helmeted visored figure with flowing hair and 2 Turtles.
The Base is missing but has Icanthus leaves circling,and the top has a Greek Key Band encircling it.
also 2 holes in top suggest that a handle may have been attached.
My first thought was a modern funerary vase but for the depth and having been found in undisturbed soil suggest a long time in ground,
Any Ideas on This?
Thanks and HH,Mont

 

[chkn]

So anyway, that's an owl in the top and bottom picture. Wow, so it was found 15 feet deep in some level farmland? Was it near a river? I wonder how that happened. It's pretty mysterious.

 

[Lucas]

Early 20th c. garden ornament.

 

[CRUSADER]

Early 20th c. garden ornament.

agreed

 

[montepollock]

I,m told that it was found in undisturbed dirt some miles away from rivers or developed sites,but wasn,t there...
But, Yes I tend to think fairly modern C20th century late 19th maybe.
Alexander the great used the owl on some coins.,and in 1920s with the discovery of Tutankhamins tomb a lot of jewelry was made featuring Egyptian cartouches.Maybe influenced by some Archeological find?
Does anyone know what the turtle represents?
Thanks and HH,Mont

 

[GopherDaGold]

There are TWO Egyptian Revival periods this piece could fall under. The first, which began in 1798 after Napoleons Egyptian campaign, and the second, in 1922 following the discovery of King Tuts tomb.


(from http://www.digitalegypt.ucl.ac.uk/religion/turtles.html)
"Turtles are treated in Ancient Egyptian belief, as in other cultures, as an ambiguous force, reflecting their life as creatures of both land and sea. In Ancient Egyptian religious iconography and literature, the turtle can be among marginal creatures invoked to defend a person"

 

[Lucas]

Kind of a odd mix of Greek and Egyptian, which screams 1920's.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Kind of a odd mix of Greek and Egyptian, which screams 1920's.

Absolutely.


Some of the BIG, cast concrete flowerpots from the 50s even still had that Greek scrollwork around their rims.