Anyone able to ID??

[fuzymunky]

Pulled this out at about 6", all the ends of the "star" were bent inward. I was able to carefully bend them back out, clean and polish it up and find a hallmark/stamp that reads West Germany. It is not magnetic...so possibly aluminum? Which would be strange because there's absolutely no blemish or flaking on it...especially buried in the ground...and who would stamp a hallmark into aluminum? Just a bit confuzzled...

I've done my share of searching...can't find anything. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[TheElementOfSand]

Im really not sure but you may have bent it out of shape..it looks to me like an oil lamp top the rectangular hole being for the wick...but that doesnt explain the holes so im lost on this thing too

 

[fuzymunky]

Well poo, I didn't even think of that. Makes complete sense too now that I look at it. Why would it say West on the top of the slot, and Germany on the bottom? And what would the slot be for? So many questions!!

 

[Ism]

If for an oil lamp, the holes are vents for air to get into the combustion chamber creating a upward draft.
Also Aluminum doesn't generally corrode in the earth unless there is iron or another dissimilar metal nearby to allow for galvanic reaction although some chemicals also react with it.
Many times I've pulled aluminum out of the ground in great shape.

If it is from a lamp it doesn't look like it was meant to be used except for display purpose. I'm not completely sold on the lamp idea but its a good guess.
The "whats it" forum is a great place to get an ID, those guys simply amaze me.

 

[willie d]

It is part of a vintage Christmas ornament.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/1042539...ament&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery

 

[Catobra]

It is part of a vintage Christmas ornament.
Wire Wrapped Ornaments Glass and Garland West by FingerLakesFinds

Check you out! How in the heck did you find that?! Way to go!

 

[norbyx]

Hey willy it seems you have a special searcher... Congratulations on the Id

Sent from my iPhone using TreasureNet

 

[the bone]

WOW! that is all i have to say very impressed with Willie d!

 

[fuzymunky]

It is part of a vintage Christmas ornament.
Wire Wrapped Ornaments Glass and Garland West by FingerLakesFinds

Like a freakin' mind reader, holy COW! Thanks a bunch willie!

 

[inspectorgadget]

I am always amazed here by the members abilities to ID things!

 

[TheElementOfSand]

Wow wouldnt have thought that lol I thought it was bigger

 

[coryide123]

no you should have left them bent in!! it is for an old oil lamp!!!

 

[fuzymunky]

no you should have left them bent in!! it is for an old oil lamp!!!

They were bent completely over themselves, so either way they were not in their proper position.

As pointed out earlier in this thread (thank you again), its the top to a Christmas ornament. Link was provided.

 

[willie d]

Like a freakin' mind reader, holy COW! Thanks a bunch willie!

You're welcome. Glad I could help.

Thanks for all the great comments guys.

 

[norbyx]

Willie just a question (that most of us are thinking) how the heck did you come up with the answer I mean it looks almost as magic...

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[willie d]

Magic, huh? Well, I don't know about that.

I will admit that without a size reference, it did present a challenge. I could've very well been wrong. I don't know much about them, but the oil lamp ID seemed totally feasible to me.

So, you want the magician to reveal his secret? LOL

It's not that big of a deal. The great thing about this forum is the broad spectrum of backgrounds and skill sets. You find something that you've never seen before, but someone on here may see it on a daily basis.

Alright, here goes: I am primarily a beach hunter, but in the winter (as Florida winters go) when the beach traffic drops off a bit I hunt parks for a month or two. This is usually Jan-Feb. In a few of these parks I have found similar items, no doubt made in China. I've found a handful of them over the years. I never knew what they were, at least up until about a year ago.

So, my wife decides that we need to replace our Christmas ornaments. While looking for new ornaments, what do I see? Yep, the mystery piece all over the place.

So all I did was type in "Christmas ornament West Germany" into the search engine and voila!

There ya go. I guess some of the parks I hunt have Christmas in the park with all the decorations and such.