Religeous Icon

[jondar]

Not long ago I re-posted my Corolene vase, which I had posted some years before, in hopes of getting some new info on it . Y'all responded and gave some new clues on it so I am posting again my family religeous icon of the Virgin Mary.   It became my mother's when my grandmother passed on when I was very young and upon my mother's passing it was mine.  I had always thought of it as being of Irish extraction, and so represented it as such in my first posting. Now my main search is for estimates about when this icon could have been made.  Someone on the forum set me straight (I seem to remember it was KC) and said the icon was not Irish and was French.  This started a search of obits and to my surprise found my g-grandmother was Mary (Marie?) Monteul of France, and g-grandfather was John Howard of Ireland.  So  the icon could have been made before 1800.  Ms Monteul could have been born around 1830.

The back plate of the icon appears ancient.  Could some of you make an estimate of just how old this is?  Thanks for any opinions.

[mart]

I could not find the old post !!  Can you post a pic of the front and one of the side edge ?? How is the stand attached to the back plate and what is the round thing behind the stand ??  Looks like a screw !!  How big is this icon ??

[jondar]

Mart:  The icon is almost four inches high and two inches in width, and roughly 5/16  inches thick,  That is a screw under the "prop".  I took it apart to dust it as a child and remember I had to use my Dad's offset screwdriver to remove the prop.  I gave it to our daughter several years ago and am working from memory as she lives fifty miles away.  I will have her bring it over next time she visits.  I can't remember  just what the screw fits into;  I can't imagine how you would "thread"  a hole in marble, which this is.  I always thought it was Connemara marble, leading me to think it was from the Irish side of my family.

Will try to attach a frontal/side view.

[jondar]

OK, looking at the front/side view I see that there was a hole bored thru the marble and the screw goes thru from the back and attaches to the brass icon of the virgin Mary.  Will have to have the icon to see how the "prop" attaches.

[icedgold10]

Brass had a lot of use in the mid to late 1800s.  The screw design goes with time period as well.

[KC]

This style/use was very prevalent in the late 1800's.  I have seen quite a few French and Italian items with this backing and style.  Try searching "antique religious icon home Lourdes" and see if it helps.

[mart]

Late 1800`s is what I think too !!   KC knows about the French stuff !!

[jondar]

Thanks for all the replies.  The only thing I had going as to the age of it was that she brought it with her, as a child in the mid 1860's, when she left her parents in Pennsylvania and came to Kansas with my g-great grandmother Mary McCarty who had emigrated from Ireland.  I thought that the icon could have been given to her when she began the trip to Kansas, and that it may have been handed down in her family.