|
Title: Ornamental lead? Post by: Cymro on March 07, 2015, 08:29:31 AM Hi Guys,
Out with the detector last week when I dug up a big lump of very decorative lead - it weighs over half a pound . . . I caught it with the point of my spade so it's got a dent from that on it, but it was curled up as it is in the photos when I found it. Looking at the back of it, it's not smooth as if it were rolled or stamped, rather it's rough as though it was open cast against a patterned mould. Not a clue as to its use or history - is it some kind of architectural element (from the size and weight) - like part of some fancy guttering . . . ? Can't see how it's been attached to anything - no holes in it anywhere, unless there was a 'stem' at whichever was the top or bottom. And are the 'plumes' feathers or palm leaves . . . ? It was found in an open field, quite a way away from any old houses, but maybe 1/4 mile away from where an old hall once stood, demolished in 1913 IIRC. Maybe the rubble was spread over surrounding fields? The soil around contains bits of old, soft brick right down to the clay. Anybody got a clue, please? Title: Re: Ornamental lead? Post by: Resurgam on March 07, 2015, 12:07:53 PM I couldn't help wondering if it comes from the framework of a leaded lamp shade or window?
Perhaps size and weight would exclude the above! Title: Re: Ornamental lead? Post by: Cymro on March 07, 2015, 12:24:17 PM Well, I'm kind of hoping someone will come back and say the pattern is typical of a certain style, movement or period - Victorian, Georgian, Art Deco etc. If I knew its approximate age its function may follow . . .
Title: Re: Ornamental lead? Post by: Resurgam on March 07, 2015, 12:33:07 PM It was Art Deco or Art Nouveau that came to my mind but I am probably wrong! :-\
Title: Re: Ornamental lead? Post by: Cymro on March 07, 2015, 02:06:33 PM The styles I cited were only examples of what it could have been, but now that you mention it (and now that I've looked up the genres on the Wiki . . . ) Art Nouveau seems the more likely, having organic origins.
The years when Art Nouveau were popular were late Victorian, which sort of ties in with my feeling of the period, but of course that's only a guess. I would have thought though that in that era, post Industrial Revolution, it would probably have been stamped or pressed rather than cast . . . :-\ Oh, and the hall was built in the middle of the 18th Century and demolished in the 1920s, according to 'Lost Houses of Wales,' and it's probably nearer 1/2 mile than 1/4 . . . Dunno . . . Title: Re: Ornamental lead? Post by: Cymro on March 08, 2015, 01:37:40 PM OK - it looks like I beat the Doc . . .
Do I get a prize? |