14th century reliquary head with these markings. Please help identify them.
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14th century reliquary head with these markings. Please help identify them.
Object is height 29cm, at the back some markings.
I have no info about these makings.
Does anyone has suggestions?
I have no info about these makings.
Does anyone has suggestions?
Re: 14th century reliquary head with these markings. Please help identify them.
Hi,
Welcome to the Forum.
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Trev.
Welcome to the Forum.
The below should help you:
How to Add Images
Posting Requirements
https://postimages.org (choose 'Share', then copy the 'Hotlink for forums' code) is recommended. Do not use Photobucket or Dropbox.
Ensure your images are embedded. Do not post links. Remember to use the 'Preview' button before submitting your post.
For more information see:
http://www.925-1000.com/forum/viewtopic ... 82#p103282
Give some time to creating your posts and we'll give some time to researching and answering them.
Trev.
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Re: 14th century reliquary head with these markings. Please help identify them.
Problems posting the photos, here are some links:
https://postimg.cc/R3N5dwgd
https://postimg.cc/XpYbXM9t
https://postimg.cc/R3N5dwgd
https://postimg.cc/XpYbXM9t
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Re: 14th century reliquary head with these markings. Please help identify them.
It would be helpful to see photos of the whole item to judge whether it's indeed medieval or not. To me the surface looks more like silver plated and there seem to be suspiciously many hallmarks for a medieval item.
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Re: 14th century reliquary head with these markings. Please help identify them.
Here is a link to the item.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/sX6BZL4d/Reliekhoofd1.jpg)
(admin edit)
There is a very similar example of the same workshop in an important Foundation in Switserland. That one has no markings.
Object is vetted by different experts and they all agree on the age, 13th -14th century.
The markings can be of a later date. Import - customs,... I have really no idea.
I searched in next book:
Rosenberg, Marc
Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen (Band 4): Ausland und Byzanz
But I did not find anything similar.
![Image](https://i.postimg.cc/sX6BZL4d/Reliekhoofd1.jpg)
(admin edit)
There is a very similar example of the same workshop in an important Foundation in Switserland. That one has no markings.
Object is vetted by different experts and they all agree on the age, 13th -14th century.
The markings can be of a later date. Import - customs,... I have really no idea.
I searched in next book:
Rosenberg, Marc
Der Goldschmiede Merkzeichen (Band 4): Ausland und Byzanz
But I did not find anything similar.
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- contributor
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- Location: Finland
Re: 14th century reliquary head with these markings. Please help identify them.
That's an interesting looking item indeed. That kind of reliquaries were made in medieval time and if you have shown it to experts then it's most likely medieval and the patina seems consistent too. I'm not familiar with medieval hallmarking practices but my guess would be that the marks could be some kind of inventory or owner's marks and possibly struck later. I don't know if such marks are recorded in litterature unless they are by a well established institution like a cathedral or monastery. This is just guessing from my part but hopefully someone else can enlighten you about the matter.
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Re: 14th century reliquary head with these markings. Please help identify them.
Thanks you for your reply.
I think it's going to be pretty hard to find out.
It is a good thinking track that these are owner marks.
Was this done often? Why did they place the same marks double?
I think it's going to be pretty hard to find out.
It is a good thinking track that these are owner marks.
Was this done often? Why did they place the same marks double?
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Re: 14th century reliquary head with these markings. Please help identify them.
I've seen some owner's marks used in the 18th and 19th centuries to mark sets of flatware. I don't mean properly engraving a crest or initials which was more usual but simply punching a stamp (for example a heraldic symbol) to the items. A bit like libraries used to stamp their books. Sometimes when the first punch wasn't good enough a second was made next to it. In your item it looks like that the other punches are weaker so I thought maybe this was the explanation for the double markings. And in the old days they weren't always that careful when dealing with old objects.