who would wear this creepy thing, and why is it not silver in color?

chong2 · Oct 4, 2008

i picked this up at a garage sale for 2 dollars. it scares the heck out of me, and reminds me of that movie where the house comes alive. i dont even like looking at it. it seems kinda old because the style of pin that used to attach it. the back is kinda double stamped sterling .925. now when i put some silver polish to it last night, the color did not change, except on the high points. and i really had rub it. so it has a really light brass, golden finish to it. why is this silver like this?
sorry for the crummy pics. my cam is broke right now, and had to borrow this junker

aa battery · Oct 4, 2008

its a fairy :icon_scratch:

Eu_citzen · Oct 4, 2008

Oh I think it's cool!

Silver, as many other metals, can oxidize the oxides look different from the metal it's self.

I.e Iron get's rusty, Copper gets a greenish look(mostly), Silver oxide is mostly black. :thumbsup:

chong2 · Oct 4, 2008

yeah, i am kinda familiar with silver, and it does not look "tarnished". it seems kinda dull golden. and it reminds me of madusa. lol

Eu_citzen · Oct 4, 2008

Well to me it looks silver and a little oxide on it :icon_scratch:

chong2 · Oct 4, 2008

k, see where the stamp is? that part i polished up. the color is not silver. the tarnish you can see is , around the inch area i polished up by the stamp.

Eu_citzen · Oct 4, 2008

$:-\$ Oh I did not notice that at first. :-X

To me it looks like reflections? But I donno. :tard:

It is weaker at one angle and stronger at another one.

ivan salis · Oct 4, 2008

mourning item maybe ? ( worn while you were in mourning for the loss of a loved one -- women often had a "respectful" mourning period of a year after their husband died before they could openly date / marry again --to get married right afterwards would lead to gossip that you had a "man" on the side waiting or were a "hot " blooded tramp that had to have "it" all the time)-- its a odd looking design agreed --seems victorican ageish design to me ( say late 1800's -- 1880 to 1900 would be my guess) the item might have been laquared to prevent tarnishing but over time the laquare itself turned yellow as monty said below .

Monty · Oct 4, 2008

Sometimes jewelry is sprayed with laquor that will get a yellowish look after a few years and silver polish won't take it off. On the back it looks silver near the edges to me. Monty

Blacksheep · Oct 4, 2008

Some type butterfly broach or pin, looks modern to me. Maybe some type of "goth" item from
a place such as "spencers"?

EDIT: Art Nouveau? The face is similar to this.

Heres a similar piece on ebay,
http://cgi.ebay.com/Art-Nouveau-Lar...39:1|66:2|65:12|240:1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

littleneckhalfshell · Oct 4, 2008

I think what Monty said is worth looking into.
Years ago at a church, the Silver Jesus on the crucifix had tarnished black, but the altar guild could not seem to polish it with the silver polish to bring it back to bright silver, they thought maybe the silver plate had finally worn off down to a base metal, but sure enough, some time back in history after being polished, someone had coated it with lacquer! Some nail polish remover was used, taking off the coating of lacquer and then the silver polish worked fine. You might want to give it a shot.

bradyboy · Oct 4, 2008

looks modern to me
Broach?
Brady

BIG61AL · Oct 5, 2008

I'd try to take off the lacquer.....I worked at a hardware store and tons of brass items were lacquer coated so the would not tarnish on the shelf.......

chong2 · Oct 8, 2008

thanks everyone for the thoughts. to me it looks victorian, maybe a mourning broach, i dunno. BS, i was browsing art N and found one that is similar to mine, the guy called his a " PUFF PIN". maybe because its hollow? see the two small holes on the back. neways thanks guys, and i will leave it how it is, everytime i try to clean something i end up screwing up, and destroying it

i kept this piece out of all the scrap silver i sold. and EU i like your opal fossil

Gypsy Heart · Oct 9, 2008

I dont think its creepy at all! Cool find and I know a gypsy who would wear it...hahahah

silverswede · Oct 9, 2008

I think Chong2 was reminded right. It seems to depict the Greek Mythology Medusa. Supposedly a Sea Nymph who was beautiful but was turned into a monsterous beast with hair of snakes that could turn onlooker into stone by just looking at her face. Thats definately not you Gypsy!