Brass handle?

Amos Moses · Dec 10, 2014

I found this thing some years back under a fairly old property, I have no idea what it is! It's about 5" wide and 3" deep.

ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1418258430.864324.webp

ImageUploadedByTreasureNet.com1418258462.298703.webp

Amos Moses · Dec 10, 2014

It seems to be hand made, the craftsmanship seems nice, but rudimentary.

nhbenz · Dec 10, 2014

It resembles African bronze bracelets (some were brass too).

Amos Moses · Dec 10, 2014

It's pretty heavy, I can't imagine someone keeping that thing on their hand

unclemac · Dec 10, 2014

take a look in this link...

https://www.google.com/search?q=bro...oDg&ved=0CAgQ_AUoAQ&biw=1821&bih=846&dpr=0.75

Amos Moses · Dec 10, 2014

Wow... That's a real shocker to me, I am amazed! How in the world did this get to rural Texas hill country.

unclemac · Dec 10, 2014

give us the whole story....when, where, how....details...we love a mystery!

Amos Moses · Dec 10, 2014

My dad was tilling our field about 10 years back and unearthed this thing, it's been tossed in a junk drawer since then... Crazy! The only explanation for it is that it was a little piece of home, brought from Africa, with a slave. Of course, that is complete speculation on my part. I can't really see any other way for it to get here, because my county (Jasper-Newton), had one of the highest slave population in the 1840's.

gunsil · Dec 11, 2014

Amos Moses said:
It seems to be hand made, the craftsmanship seems nice, but rudimentary.

It is cast, not hand made.

ARC · Dec 11, 2014

very cool

unclemac · Dec 11, 2014

gunsil said:
It is cast, not hand made.

...sure....hand cast, a single item. Certain tribal areas of west Africa were well known for their bronze castings...poke around this...

Benin Bronzes - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

if you read it, it should also lead you to other links and ideas....try the google search "history africa bronze bracelet" or something similar.

tamrock · Dec 11, 2014

Many slaves came from from the region of West Africa, such as the Ivory Coast, so I'm thinking the slave connection sounds like a good lead, being the place you said it was found had a large slave population in the past. I found this bracelet called a 'Malnilla' that may be a possibility to what you have... Manillas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I also found a cast bronze buckle that was said to be found in New Mexico and had an early Spanish connection. The dark patina on it sure came close to the level of patina seen on your item. Your bronze piece has what looks like more recent wear due to some handling of it over the 10 years after you said it was found. Pretty interesting find you have. Hope you can get it solved with some level of certainty.

unclemac · Dec 11, 2014

I gotta wonder however, if a slave would be able to keep or conceal such an item....if this is an item that has been connected to slave ownership in the past, that would be something to find out.