42" Bronze Urn - time period? style? origin?

[ProPintle]

  This bronze Urn has what looks like a Vine around half of it's center with 2 (removeable) solid Bronze "angry" birds perched on it.

[fancypants]

Welcome to the forum , ProPintle !

Interesting & large piece (thanks for all the pics) ...

one more thing that can help finding info (esp. with all the curious forum members) would be a suggestion to go over your item with a magnifier , in the event that you have found no 'maker's marks' or signatures (& etc) with your naked eyes .
I am curious about roughly how much it weighs , too .

Let's see what other members have to say !
 

[mariok54]

That is a substantial piece that you have there, and if it is bronze then should demand a nice price irrespective of it's age and origins. As Fancypants suggests, give it a thorough inspection to try to find any markings.
How much of its history do you know?

[ProPintle]

This piece is nearly 60 lbs.   It was an estate find by a friend and no history was included.   I did not find any maker marks without a magnifier, I will recheck later this week.

[KC]

Hi and Welcome!

Beautiful piece!  Please recheck the "ornamental" works on your piece...even the removeable "angry birds" (wouldn't throw them like the phone game! LOL).  Usually there is a very, very small marking!  But then again....I have a beautiful French piece that has no markings and it's matching mate (huge Russian Wolfhound over 100 lbs) was purchased by the former TX Governor John Connally (of the John F Kennedy shooting)...which now sits in the largest private collection of bronze pieces in the US.

Agree with mariok54 that it will still be worth $$ but can worth $$$ if it is from a reputable artisan.

[ProPintle]

 Ive had this listed on Ebay (with more pictures) for a couple of weeks now at $999,999 (or make offer) in hopes that a collector would give a clue to origin.  Lots of lookers but no clues.  My friend would be floored at $100,000 but I think that would still be giving it away.  Since Marks are sometimes very obscure, Where could I find images (link) to the more famous marks to bronze metalists?

[mart]

Your angry birds are hawks/falcons !!  Without the artists attribution it would not bring anywhere close to that !!  You need some documentation/history/artists name or at least a foundry mark !!  Without something like that its just an unknown bronze !!  I would do research on the former owners, perhaps they were known collectors and it can be traced back through purchase records of auction houses !!

[waywardangler]

$999,999? or make offer. And you have no idea as to maker, whether it is new or antique, real bronze or not? I am sorry but eBay sellers that post items like that are ridiculous. You need to do your homework before putting items up for sale or else it looks like you do not have a clue as to what you are doing.

"$999,999 or make offer"...no interested person in their right mind will even contact you because that starting price is a joke. JMO.

I am sorry,  but this post query really frosts me. There are many knowledgeable members on this forum that gladly help out with their expertise freely but I think you are also taking advantage of this forum with an eBay post like that.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-Bronze-Urn-Giant-42-tall-2-Birds-/280663132820?pt=Asian_Antiques&hash=item4158d38a94

[mart]

Sorry, but Wayward is right !! No one is going to take you seriously like that !!  I research even a $10. piece if I list it on ebay !!  Its my responsibility to know what I am selling and to price it accordingly !!

[ProPintle]

I understand the annoyance of my price (30 days, to get collectors to notice) but finding a needle in a haystack of millions of reference web pages could take years of reading/posting to come across something close. From experience in the my personal Fav. Motorcycle forum, No forum has all the enthusiasts for a given subject and each member has a specialty. If there are 20 forum web pages how often do the Bronze enthusiast look at Ebay or any Antique site?  Once a month...twice a year?  Hold up a shiny gold "looking" coin and see how many know gold from brass, I've had other items on Ebay that I have taken the same pose and had friendly advice on an items origin,  Holding up an object in front of a group of collectors/buyers/speculators (ebay) that each have there area of special interest, ie: Chinese,Japanese,Russian....  Bronze,Cast iron,Gold....will result in faster norrowing of the Age/Style/Country and could result in a buyer that knows exactly what/where/when it came from scooping it up with an offer of $100,000 on a million dollar peice.  Other sellers might put it up for Auction (7 days) starting at $1000 or $10,000 and take what they get....would you give it away like that? Your relying that the people who would pay a reasonable/fair price for it will be on Ebay in that 7 days.....  I can start at 1 mil and cut the price 30% every 30 days until it sells and in the mean time get closer to its origin.    I'm not looking for members here to make an offer , I'm just looking to be pointed in the right direction for research .  1700-1800's / China  etc.

Thanks to all that have and will give a clue.

[mart]

I disagree with that theory !!  If you cut your price every 30 days,, it looks like you have a fake and know it, and are trying to take legitimate buyers for a ride !!  Has it ever occurred to you that posting a reasonable starting price with an "OBO" price could also go up instead of down

[waywardangler]

I am in agreement with mart.

[wendy177]

Propintle if you are looking for a fast track to find information & value on your piece you should contact a large & reputable auction house who will have someone that specializes in bronze urns or simply pay an expert for a written history & value on your piece.

[ProPintle]

Your suggestion of posting a reasonable price / OBO (that could go up?  what site is that possible?) would require knowing what would be reasonable for this peice.....   What you consider reasonable ( or a steal ) could be well below Ebay Surfers willingness.  In collectables Ebay is the convenience store for those that don't want to/or can't go to Auction houses.  Additionally any serious buyer would want it verified by their own source (available by appt.) if they were paying even $10G.  (reasonable?)  would you consider buying it at $10g without your own source verification?

[regularjoe2]

I'm all for anyone who's for the concept of doing research on potential antiques .

As to a complete point & click link for you for info on all the bronze artisains & founderies in the past 150 years , there's just not one I could steer you towards ,
ProPintle . Usually , specialities (& dealers in same) in the antiques trades can be difficult to garner info about , without a serious effort by the uniniatiated (IMO) .

Many here will happily see what they can hunt down , but as others stated , more info posted here will help , since we are all hampered by not having the item to look @ in person .

If all else fails , perhaps you might bring your item to an antique shop/dealer in your area & get @ least an opinion without any great cost ....