Who am I... Fedora hat/ famous explorer, etc.??

[mdmike]

Anyone know who this guy is... obviously must be famous at some point. Made of some sort of white/ Britannia metal. Corners eroding a bit and head broken from the body. Who am I??

 

[SDIceMan]

This is a shot in the dark, so please don’t hold me to it, but could it be King Charles I of England or one of his followers?

I found this on Wikipedia:

A cavalier hat is a variety of wide-brimmed hat popular in the seventeenth century. These hats were often made from felt, and usually trimmed with an ostrich plume. They were often cocked up or had one side of the brim pinned to the side of the crown of the hat. Cavalier hats get their name from supporters of King Charles I during the English Civil War, known as cavaliers, noted for wearing extravagant clothing.



My personal feeling is somebody from the wild west, but that big feather plume on the hat is throwing me off.

 

[Guardrailnickel]

Did Buffalo Bill wear a hat like that? It was my first thought when I saw it.

 

[ArfieBoy]

Did Buffalo Bill wear a hat like that? It was my first thought when I saw it.

My first thought, too! But I've been to the Buffalo Bill museum in Cody, WY and I don't recall seeing him with a hat with a large plume.

 

[Tony in SC]

Don Quixote ?

 

[smallfoot]

Bill Cody was usually pictured in a hat, most without plumes but I found one depiction that did.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

Fedora? Cavalier maybe.

I think he may be more Muskateer than Mountain Man.

 

[Red-Coat]

Try Googling “Don Juan Figurine”.

Although a fictional literary character, he was a very popular subject for ‘bronze’ figurines made as standalone decorative items, clock ornaments and a variety of other housewares, especially during the late 1800s to early 1900s. Sometimes the pieces were marked as being Don Juan (and are an artist’s interpretation of the fictional womaniser) and sometimes not, such that they are just generically regarded as ‘cavalier’ figures. They’re almost invariably wearing broad-brimmed cavalier hats with feathered plumes.

As figurines, they sometimes came in pairs, with the other figure being an interpretation of Don Cesar (also fictional) and similarly dressed.

This one is French, cast in 'bronzed' spelter (a cheap white metal zinc alloy) and made as a table lamp.

 

[ANTIQUARIAN]

Great information by Red-Coat.

Most definitely cast of spelter metal, you can see the mold seam running down the side of the hat.
Interesting that it has a casting hole in the top of the hat, possibly a breathing hole for the metal, as it looks to be a solid casting

To me, he has a very Shakespearean look to him... more likely to be a 17thc literary figure then 16th though?
Dave

 

[GaRebel1861]

Custer?

 

[devldog]

I was thinking maybe Gen. Jeb Stuart, Gen. Lee's Chief of Cavalry, C.S.A. Gen. Stuart was known for his fine uniform presence and wore a hat adorned with an ostrich feather. He was known as "the Last of the Cavaliers". An extraordinary Cavalryman.

 

[ticndig]

the eyes remind me of Christopher Columbus

 

[DCMatt]

I was thinking maybe Gen. Jeb Stuart, Gen. Lee's Chief of Cavalry, C.S.A. Gen. Stuart was known for his fine uniform presence and wore a hat adorned with an ostrich feather. He was known as "the Last of the Cavaliers". An extraordinary Cavalryman.

And like Stuart at Gettysburg, you are late to the party. Pretty sure this one has been ID'd properly by Red-Coat as Don Juan.

Do a Google image search on '"Don Juan" spelter figurine' and you will see dozens of them.

 

[dozer dan]

Sir Walter Raleigh? Possibly a figurine because I couldn’t imagine a kids toy modeled after him.

 

[charley2hats]

It looks like Custer to me

 

[devldog]

It looks like Custer to me

Custer got his at the Little Big Horn.

 

[devldog]

And like Stuart at Gettysburg, you are late to the party. Pretty sure this one has been ID'd properly by Red-Coat as Don Juan.

Do a Google image search on '"Don Juan" spelter figurine' and you will see dozens of them.

Pretty sure? He's Hee. Be careful...Gen. Custer thought he had things under control at the Little Big Horn. Custer's last words were reportedly "Doh!" LOl

 

[Guardrailnickel]

Lets all agree to disagree, and agree it's Buffalo Bill.

 

[Tony in SC]

Most likely it is just generic and not anybody, just a dime store figurine.