Description
We picked these 2 objects up at auction. We do not know what purpose they serve. What are they? They have curved sides forming a hexagonal top and bottom. Top and bottom are open. We assume they are pewter(rubbing a corner leaves a lead mark. They have gold or brass inlay. Item 1 seems to be of higher quality. It's easily twice as heavy. It has a slightly more intricate casting design with a pedestal on the bottom. It is also marked inside with 2 oriental characters. The inlay design is the same on all sides of this item.
Item 1's inlay motif is floral only. Item 2 is lighter. It has almost identical dimensions to the first the inlay motif on item 2 is floral plus birds and insects. e-mail: [email protected]
Re: Unknown Oriental Pewter Objects
Wow. Interesting pieces. I haven't seen these before myself, but I have a suspicion.
From the size you mention and the weight you suggest, I suspect that these are Torpedo Bottle stands.
Torpedo bottles are so called, because they have a rounded torpedo shaped bottom. The idea is a combination of many. The main one is that these bottles were Corked, so it forced the owner to keep them stored on their sides. This keeps the liquid inside in contact with the cork so that it wouldn't dry out and leak. It also made it a pain to drink from because, once opened, you couldn't very well put the rounded bottom bottle down. Therefore a number of designs came out to hold these open bottles at the table, and I suspect that this is one. The shape prevents the holder from tipping over and it sounds like it would accommodate different designs of these bottles (universal holder).
If you can confirm this, these stands typically sell for about $130 +/- each.
Some sort of tableware is where I'd start looking, anyway. They may even be some sort of fancy napkin holder.
Hope this helps!