Hitching Post Top

[hosman321]

Well, looks like I get to go to my first show. Sounds like a great place to take this thing. Do you think these guys would know? It's a bit of a drive but worth it.

http://www.palmerwirfs.com/html/p_p05_evalate_id.html

[waywardangler]

Sounds like fun but I do not see any "experts" in iron except for the machinery guy.  I think he would be the one of all of them to tell if your horse head is old iron or not.  How far of a drive is it?

[hosman321]

Yeah, I was wondering the same thing. It would be a two hour drive. That same show will be in my area in November and it would be a 15 min drive. But Id rather go to a show in the summer than in the cold November weather. In Washington we get maybe one month of sunshine and the rest of the year is pretty dark and wet. I guess it wouldn't hurt to take it along and ask them since I want to go to the show anyways, ya know? If they didn't know, at least I only lost five dollars and it was donated anyways.

[waywardangler]

Oh, so this is an antique show and an appraisal fair?  Then I would go because look at all the good stuff you can see and you never know what is there.  Maybe a treasure.  I initially thought this was just an appraisal fair.  Now you can kill two birds with one stone.  Sounds like fun.

[hosman321]

Yeah, it's mainly a show with just a booth for appraisals. I've never been to one before. Anything special I should know?

[talesofthesevenseas]

Sounds like a fun way to spend a weekend to me! I'd say go for it, get the appraisal, put the horse back in your trunk then have fun browsing! 

[regularjoe2]

Hosman321 , I'd say : wear comfy shoes !

Be prepared for waiting in lines , esp for appraisal areas .

Many 'higher-end' items , in my experience , are priced @ retail level and above (by the 'major' exhibitors) .

Chances are pretty fair that you'll see some wonderful/unusual and unique antiques !

If you're looking for something specific , it pays to take the exhibitor 'aside' and ask if they've got such an item (also ask if they've got more 'things' in their trailers , etc -if you're really serious about buying , that is) .
They've usually chatted with other exhibitors/dealers at the show & might know another who has got what you're looking for .

One of my favorite tactics is to 'dress down' a little & wear NO BLING , esp if there's an auction involved .
Sneaky old-man tricks .

[hosman321]

This dang horse head is gonna be the death of me, I swear.
I wrote that website that had the same head made into a lamp. She sent me this link. She used to have a pair but someone only wanted the rusted out one. I guess now I'm pretty convinced the actual mold/design is antique and not some recently created mold. The question is just weather or not mine was made from an old mold and if they actually do that. In the third pic, you can see the rusted out one. That would take an awfully long time to reproduce! And hers do have ring holes, unlike mine.
http://highgroveantiques.bigcartel.com/product/pair-of-heavy-hitching-post-lamps

[hosman321]

Any Amish in your area?  I am not an expert on hitching posts but I have seen a few.  I also have seen many cast iron items.  The newness of the rust is a red flag as is the new bright grind marks on the bottom.  I also do not like the offset mold line on the head.  Close your eyes and run your hands over this post.  Does it feel like a rough sand casting or is the surface smooth.  Sometimes our eyes want to tell us one thing when our other senses should be used.  I am leaning towards a newer casting rather than an antique one but you are the one that can examine this in person and go with your gut feeling.  JMO.   

Wayward, I forgot to ask you this...
When you said to feel if it is smooth or rough, which would suggest that it was older? Would a smooth one be newer or the other way around? Because it's very sandy and not smooth at all. Just curious!

[waywardangler]

A smooth one would be older.  Newer castings tend to be rougher.  This is not set in stone but just how things tend to be.  An old iron surface would be more oxidized so more pores would be filled and thus the surface would be smoother to the touch.  It is hard to tell from photos but should be easy to tell in person.  Old iron has a different look from being exposed to the air for years as compared with newer iron with newer rust.  I am not an iron expert but newer rust on anything has a more orange appearance.  I see this on tools all the time that have recently been exposed to water and then rust forms.

[chigato]

Hi, just surfed a few items and I'd Like to comment on yours. I'm not an expert , but what you have is a cast iron fence post cap. They're made in mexico and now in china. I saw them in my wrought iron suppliers catalog. It's not terribly old. 80's, 90's or even newer. As a kid, I remember going to my great-aunts house in what is now known as Old Town in beautiful Chicago. This was in the 50's and believe it or not, horsehead hitching posts were still left on the sidewalk as a novelty in front of certain addresses on Clark and North streets. across from the chicago Historical Society. If you walk the neighborhood you will see a few around in people's front yard. They're probably the ones that used to be on the street. I recently saw a pair in an antique store, but I'm saving my money for that lawn jockey that no one ever gets me for my birthday.

[chigato]

Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention that there's suppose to be a large steel ring through the snout to tie the reigns.

[hosman321]

All very true, chigato.
Technically, these have been made from the 1800's until today, they have been in continuous production. Which makes it so hard to date. The most difficult part is figuring out when a solid piece of iron was made. Iron is tricky. There are no dates, only telltale signs that an expert needs to see. The texture, the rust and the type of casting are probably the only ways to know. And I don't know any of those things!

I am thinking about actually paying a decent amount of money to get it looked at by an iron or hitching post expert. I got it so cheap, I actually wouldn't mind paying. This head just haunts me every time I walk into the room, it's driving me crazy! Another thing that's so confusing is seeing that pair from the woman. It takes many years for iron to rust all the way through like that. Then again, many years could be 20 years. And it's the same mold as mine. I just don't know if the old mold was used for a new cast, a new mold made from an old head or if this is an original. Someone on the forum has offered to look at it for me, I am excited to see what he says. I'll let ya all know what happens! I probably won't be paying an expert any time soon though. My husband's job is firing him because he is disabled and we're probably going to spend a fortune on a lawyer if we can't find one to see our case on contingency. Or, we'll have to see if the VA will help. I also won't be allowed to get anything new if we have to go through with this. Sigh...life's not working out for us right now! We're going to be very busy.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Sorry to hear about your hubby's employer troubles! My husband is disabled too and I know it can be difficult. Feel free to email or pm me if you ever feel like girl talk.

[hosman321]

Thank you tales! Depending on how everything goes I may definitely need someone to talk to. The last month has been a living hell but we are hoping they won't fire him. On the bright side, if they do fire him, he'll get unemployment because he didn't do anything wrong. It's already hard enough having severe, painful arthritis your entire life. And hard enough going through war and fighting for your country. When you get home and just want to start your life over and your job wants to fire you after living a 4 year nightmare...it's really stressful. He's had a harder life than any 23 year old should ever have. I just pray they don't go through with it. My biggest fear is having to sell any of my antiques to make ends meet!