So I have had this for a while, and don't know much about it. It's bronze, and it's Italian, at least the inscription around the base is, and the lettering is very old..
So what is this thing?
Ok, I'm adding a lot of pictures today and all the info that I know on this item.
1.The Inscriptions:
"Torino" followed by a year, which in this odd script could be either "1007" or "1887" I tend to think it points to 1007...
"Ricordo della festa storica" which in Italian translates to "In memory of the historic festival or festivity"
"Gianduia" which I really dont get... searches on this word show it as a famous italian chocolate, and also it brings up an old world character...and I think it may also refer to a region of the country...
And finally, the last inscription is the least understandable. It seems to be a name or something, but the 2nd word contains letters which ar not in the English alphabet, and a lot of the letters on this thing took some trying to identify anyway since they are in a very different configuration than modern letters.
"Ridet Benefic*M?*do"
2. On to the icons:
The icons displayed on the statue seem to be referencing the Christian Crusaders as idicated by the flag standard, the shield on the creatures back, and on the gorget upon the creatures neck. A serpent is coiled around its forelimb and is preparing to strike the creature.
3. Tidbit:
My sister is the one who originally found this and bought it, as she was highly into antiquing at the time. She "said" that she took it to a restaurant owned by "old world italians" to find out what it is, but said Italians freaked out saying it belonged to some satanic family or something and made my sister take it away. I really dont know if I believe this story at all, but I threw it in, just in case...
4. Also, I included a shot of the base where the casting was poured. Perhaps this can aid dating the item? I dont know much about what time periods certain processes were used..
