Old Lead Toy ?

[robfinds]

Does anyone have an idea of the age of this find. Probably a toy of some kind, it's made of solid lead. It looks like an Arab smoking an Arab type pipe. The face as been I think purposefully damaged. There's no makers mark, I think it could be fairly old, maybe 18th Century. I've not seen anything like it before, it's certainly well made.

Robert.

 

[Breezie]

Spelter lead toy? Here is a pic of a set. Not much info, tho.


The one guy has a hooka. It looks like his arm may go up and down to bring the pipe to his face. Maybe yours had a similar set up using that hole? As usual, I'm guessing...

DCMatt

Matt, the shape of the figures you pictured is right; spelter is a synonym for a zinc alloy. It has been used to resemble bronze since the mid 1800s to make statues, candlesticks, etc. Spelter is soft, and will break fairly easy. You can do a scratch test for spelter, which will show a silver colored scratch.

I'd like to see a pic of this guy in his natural resting position since you stated he will not sit up on his butt. If we see him on his back or whatever his natural position, it might give us a clue as to his purpose.

At first I thought he might be an incense holder using the hole in his arm to hold the stick type incense, which would serve as a prop to sit him upright on his butt. You might want to slide a stick through his arm hole to see if it works.

I'm also thinking, since this statue is lead, why doesn't it have the white patina that most lead has when it ages in the elements?

Interesting find, Breezie

 

[CRUSADER]

I didn't reply earlier, as I'm clueless, but I really like it. If I guessed I would say late 1800s

 

[robfinds]

Spelter lead toy? Here is a pic of a set. Not much info, tho.


The one guy has a hooka. It looks like his arm may go up and down to bring the pipe to his face. Maybe yours had a similar set up using that hole? As usual, I'm guessing...

DCMatt

Matt, the shape of the figures you pictured is right; spelter is a synonym for a zinc alloy. It has been used to resemble bronze since the mid 1800s to make statues, candlesticks, etc. Spelter is soft, and will break fairly easy. You can do a scratch test for spelter, which will show a silver colored scratch.

I'd like to see a pic of this guy in his natural resting position since you stated he will not sit up on his butt. If we see him on his back or whatever his natural position, it might give us a clue as to his purpose.

At first I thought he might be an incense holder using the hole in his arm to hold the stick type incense, which would serve as a prop to sit him upright on his butt. You might want to slide a stick through his arm hole to see if it works.

I'm also thinking, since this statue is lead, why doesn't it have the white patina that most lead has when it ages in the elements?

Interesting find, Breezie

Here's some more pictures. I'm wondering if it could be a clay pipe holder ?.
Robert.

 

[Breezie]

Okay, so he can sit on his butt. . .kinda. I was under the impression he would roll backwards on his back. I don't know if the hole is big enough to hold a clay pipe. You may have to take another pic with a pencil or something through the hole to give us a point of reference. Nice find, Breezie

 

[robfinds]

Okay, so he can sit on his butt. . .kinda. I was under the impression he would roll backwards on his back. I don't know if the hole is big enough to hold a clay pipe. You may have to take another pic with a pencil or something through the hole to give us a point of reference. Nice find, Breezie

Breezie all men can sit on their butt, it's what we do best

 

[Breezie]

Okay, so he can sit on his butt. . .kinda. I was under the impression he would roll backwards on his back. I don't know if the hole is big enough to hold a clay pipe. You may have to take another pic with a pencil or something through the hole to give us a point of reference. Nice find, Breezie

Breezie all men can sit on their butt, it's what we do best

LOL . . .of course, what was I thinking? (Me doing the 'I could have had a V-8' pop on my forehead!)

 

[BioProfessor]

We got 'em over here in the Netherlands. Found this one in a horse pasture that dates to the 1600's. Just not too many have details on the back. It seems that many were cast by pouring into a flat mold so the 3-D ones are cool.

Daryl

 

[CRUSADER]

We got 'em over here in the Netherlands. Found this one in a horse pasture that dates to the 1600's. Just not too many have details on the back. It seems that many were cast by pouring into a flat mold so the 3-D ones are cool.

Daryl

Interesting, I've found flat 17th Century lead Toy bits, never knew they were making other types as well

 

[BioProfessor]

As we both know Crusader, just because it's in a 17th century field don't make it 17th century. The field is exactly the same as it was on maps from 1710 but it has yielded coins, buttons, and buckles up to the late 1700. Not much else but modern trash after that. Cool field to hunt.

Daryl

 

[CRUSADER]

As we both know Crusader, just because it's in a 17th century field don't make it 17th century. The field is exactly the same as it was on maps from 1710 but it has yielded coins, buttons, and buckles up to the late 1700. Not much else but modern trash after that. Cool field to hunt.

Daryl

OK, I thought you had got an ID of 17th C for the toy, looking at it, it might be possible. So I would still like to know, did they do 17th C types in 3D?

 

[robfinds]

We got 'em over here in the Netherlands. Found this one in a horse pasture that dates to the 1600's. Just not too many have details on the back. It seems that many were cast by pouring into a flat mold so the 3-D ones are cool.

Daryl

Many thanks Daryl, it does look like the same sort of object. The area where I found mine does produce lots of 17th century finds.