Author Topic: Zinc (or some white metal) statue  (Read 2816 times)

debodun

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Zinc (or some white metal) statue
« on: February 21, 2012, 06:14:17 am »
This has been in my family for decades. Back in the 1960s my mother was having some work done by a local photographer and she saw this statue in his studio. She came home and told my dad about it. The following Christmas - there it was under the tree. He had bought it from the photographer and given it to her, but he would never tell her how much he had to pay for it. Now he's gone and I'll never know, either. The hollow figure is made from a non-magnetic metal and has a spike on the bottom which fits into a hole in the two-colored marble base. I can't find any markings on it, and to give you an idea of its size, it's 19" from wingtip to wingtip and weighs about 10 pounds (without the base). It has a ring on the back and a red-colored "stone" on the armband. Almost everyone that comes in the house comments on it and a few people have offered to buy it, but the most I've been offered is $200. I feel it's may be worth more than that. Any comments appreciated. Thank you.

mart

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Re: Zinc (or some white metal) statue
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2012, 09:35:43 am »
At first look it appears to be a figure from a cemetary marker !! I am assuming that it has no marks anywhere ???

debodun

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Re: Zinc (or some white metal) statue
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2012, 12:31:59 pm »
No marks that I can see, and I even looked up her skirt!

KevinB

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Re: Zinc (or some white metal) statue
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2012, 02:48:03 pm »
That color looks like silver paint to me. Maybe its painted bronze? The eyelet has me wondering if it wasn't meant to hang from a ceiling originally. Might of been a pair hanging on either side of an alter? Does it look like the base might of been added?

KC

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Re: Zinc (or some white metal) statue
« Reply #4 on: February 21, 2012, 03:04:18 pm »
Mart, my first impressions also was that it was an old cemetery marker.
I'm from the South - but please don't mistake my Southern Manners/Accent/Charm as a weakness!

debodun

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Re: Zinc (or some white metal) statue
« Reply #5 on: February 21, 2012, 03:15:59 pm »
My impression is that the marble base was custom made for the figure, but I can't be sure. There is a hole that goes down through the marble parts and a spike on the foot of the statue fits down into it. If it was meant to be hung, why the spike on the bottom? Someone once mentioned to me that it may represent the Greek goddess Nike.
« Last Edit: February 21, 2012, 03:19:59 pm by debodun »

mart

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Re: Zinc (or some white metal) statue
« Reply #6 on: February 21, 2012, 03:18:13 pm »
Thats what I thought KC !!  But the eye bolt is a bit confusing !!  Back a few years some were a bit eccentric about a persons burial spot !! I even thought it may have hung from a tree over someones final resting place like a guardian angel !!  

KevinB

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Re: Zinc (or some white metal) statue
« Reply #7 on: February 21, 2012, 04:42:34 pm »
It deffinately looks like a heavy duty eye bolt. I like the hanging from the tree idea. Could it have hung from a limb but the foot was nailed to the trunk so the wind didn't blow it around?

mart

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Re: Zinc (or some white metal) statue
« Reply #8 on: February 21, 2012, 06:44:13 pm »
Don`t think so Kevin,, I would think that it was drilled and mounted just as a remembrance,, But who knows !!  Perhaps a natural disaster at the cemetary and family took it !! The figure reminds me of New Orleans type markers !!  I looked at Nike statues and it could have been made with that in mind !!  I am going to look around a bit !!

KC

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Re: Zinc (or some white metal) statue
« Reply #9 on: February 21, 2012, 09:20:29 pm »
Some used to have a hanging vase on them for flowers...so the vase would hook in to the back bolt!
I'm from the South - but please don't mistake my Southern Manners/Accent/Charm as a weakness!