Artifact from Atlantis?

Okay ...I am leaning toward insence burner complete with degraded slats for ropes/chains to hang it.

I am still waiting for responses from the experts I e-mailed; only got a response from one so far and I posted that numerous pages back.

Will post responses if/when I get something.

reply to post by skeptic1


Looking forward to it

My appraiser:

"I am checking for something similar. Almost inclined to say this is a modern repro "

Anyone have any luck on this?

I think that appraiser may need to refund the $9.99. I poked around myself and came up completely dry. A 'so called expert' buddy of mine with a career in the stuff came up dry too. I was certain he would nail it down. He knows his stuff, but refused to even give a direction. Seems the deeper folks are in to these things the less committal they are in speculating. Reputations are hard to come by in the field and no one wants to risk theirs.

The final word from my guys:

"There is no doubt at all that this is upside down. There is also no doubt that the motifs are Chinese and derived from archaic bronzes of the Zhang (1500 - 1028 BC) and the Zhou (1028 - 221 BC) dynasties. Suggestions of Mayan and Greek origin are nonsense, as is the story that this was found under the sea. The patination has not been created by seawater but by a factory in China sometime during the 20th century. It is hard to date these modern pieces but I would guesstimate at the 1970s. Obviously I cannot see the top but it would originally have had some kind of pricket to hold the handle; presumably now missing. Still, it is a fun decorative object and I value it as such. $100."

reply to post by IAttackPeople


i wondered about the patination too. how does he know? i mean, just visually looking at it, it looks too ...dabbed on, if you get my meaning. it reminds me of when my mom decided to use gold leaf paint and a sponge, to refurbish our french provinical furniture.

[edit on 12-10-2008 by undo]

reply to post by IAttackPeople


I get skeptical when someone uses "There is no doub that...t" and he uses it three times and in contradiction to what other experts have said.

I think he´s wrong about it being upside down. I think we can meanwhile safely say that he´s right about the Asian influence.

Thanks for your help.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
About one year ago someone who wishes to remain anonymous sent me a collection of pictures of an artifact asking me: "Any chance that this is from Atlantis?"

Originally posted by Drewdatt
This may be from Lemuria / Mu.

The mother land. The repeating spiral symbol looks a lot like the hieratic letter H, the alphabetical symbol of the Four Great Primary Forces, "the Sacred Four."

Originally posted by Harte
Oh, and the "artifact from Atlantis?"

I can't get the pics to load but I can say one thing without even seeing it - it's not from Atlantis.

Atlantis never, ever existed.

Harte

Originally posted by punkinworks

It is NOT FROM ATLANTIS OR MU OR LEMURIA.

Nice post, punkin.

Originally posted by IAttackPeople
The final word from my guys:

"There is no doubt at all that this is upside down. There is also no doubt that the motifs are Chinese and derived from archaic bronzes of the Zhang (1500 - 1028 BC) and the Zhou (1028 - 221 BC) dynasties. Suggestions of Mayan and Greek origin are nonsense, as is the story that this was found under the sea. The patination has not been created by seawater but by a factory in China sometime during the 20th century. It is hard to date these modern pieces but I would guesstimate at the 1970s. Obviously I cannot see the top but it would originally have had some kind of pricket to hold the handle; presumably now missing. Still, it is a fun decorative object and I value it as such. $100."

Anybody else see how humorous it is that when a thing isn't identified then "IT COULD BE FROM ATLANTIS!!!

I've got some keys on an old keyring of mine. I can't identify what they unlock anymore.

Wonder if they unlock....

THE GATES OF ATLANTIS!!!

Harte

[edit on 10/14/2008 by Harte]

reply to post by Harte


One of the reasons it was assumed to be Atlantean was because of spiritual synchronicities surrounding the receipt of the item.

Originally posted by Skyfloating
reply to post by Harte

 

One of the reasons it was assumed to be Atlantean was because of spiritual synchronicities surrounding the receipt of the item.

Ohh...

Spiritual synchronicities, eh?

Well, then, that's different!


Harte

I've gone through the entire thread and am quite impressed with everyone's contributions. For my own:
If it is truly old then it could have passed through many hands and cultures. It could have been reworked and repurposed many times as valuable/quality objects tend to be preserved. Things could have been added or taken away. Co-parts and pieces may be missing as Umbra Sideralis mentioned. Its original purpose may have been supplanted by a new owner's needs/wants and used differently than it was first meant. There is a frugal nature to us and an adoration of history.
It looks like a bronze alloy
From the decorations I say persian or indonesian (no expert)
The possibility of it being made up for export to the west is high, see the porcelain trade of the pre victorian times and the entire pottery export business in the 19-20th centuries. Even today asia supplies the west with many metal export art work that is made up.
Atlantean? That would be cool.
Need some experts to put this one on a professional forum.
Definitely a great debate, thanks for the thread.

it looks like its from atlantis ive seen these before in other places and each one was definitley from atlantis

they are very valuable and have some sort of aura around them sometimes they wioll glow in the right conditions which also helps proves that it is atlantis where it was made

that is so incredible

Firstly, under no circumstances should he have it "cleaned and polished" by anyone, professional or otherwise. Ever. If it's authentic, he could potentially knock it down in value from the thousands to the hundreds that way. More than a few people on Antiques Roadshow have gotten nasty shocks like that. Even if it's a repro the patina's part of the appeal, so he could still be shaving the aforementiond $100 down to 50.
Now, I know just enough about antiques and artifacts to be dangerous, so if I might offer my assessment as an interested amateur:

The piece is almost certainly asian in style. I'm leaning toward Chinese, though the seeming inconsistencies in the design suggest possibly a later Korean or Japanese copy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. I won't rule out a more western origin though the style is wrong. A modern repro isn't out of the question either. Period bronzes for instance are usually cast in one piece. If it was sweat soldered as he implies, that plus the apparent lack of a makers mark doesn't look good.

A couple questions,

1. Is the apparent "bottom" open and hollow or closed?

2. Is the carbon crust toward the wide parts of the tripod section or the thin
parts?

If the former to both, then he does indeed have it upside down. Carbon forms above flames, not below them. Note the tripod beaker thing someone posted earlier. IIRC, It's a wine vessel intended to be placed over a flame to heat the wine, much as the Japanese still serve saki. I believe what he has may be a variation on the same form. (the use marks don't mean it's authentic either. forgers have been known to fake those too.)

In terms of "X didn't know what it was", I should point out It makes a big difference where he took it. "Experts" vary and I'd be wary of placing too much weight on professional opinions outside the high-end.

-Oniomancer

i'm not sure if it's been said already, but it looks like a lantern. If this isn't a replica I think you might have more here than you think . . .


edit: or better yet, a "magic" "lantern" if there are any holes . . .


are there any holes in the side?

[edit on 10/14/2008 by JPhish]

I am assuming that the owner of the object is reading this thread and will respond to your questions by emailing me.

One new piece of information he recently sent me is that he discovered a layer of dry coral inside the object.

He also said he might try to provide more pictures of it and take it to examination by universities himself. The local university he recently took it to could not place or date it because their specialization is limited to certain regions.

Wow after reading the whole thread i'm surprised that you guys ignored the easiest way to identify the origin of this object. But first of all, the picture taken are all upside down.

And this is why its of Chinese descent, its too obvious and its already been posted, i dont understand why everyone ignored it..
[IMG]http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1290/tyfkflfllgjhgfjhoz2ks9.th.gif[/I MG]
Yes its obviously resembling a Foo Dog!
[IMG]http://img407.imageshack.us/img407/1290/tyfkflfllgjhgfjhoz2ks9.th.gif[/I MG]

You took the pics upside down. If you turn the artifact upside down the middle design on the bottom half is a person in a trance state and the design in the third pic becomes a birds face. This might help you find out whare it is from but more importantly when

I'm not an expert by any means, but IMO I don't think it looks like any of the Chinese or Arabic art that I have seen. Mayan? That would be my choice.

It's awesome to say the least and I wish you the best in finding the origins.

I'm going to look around on the internet, but those square mazes definitely sparked something in my memory...like maybe something I have seen in a crop circle picture perhaps.

Originally posted by Harte


Ohh...

Spiritual synchronicities, eh?

Well, then, that's different!

Harte

Its alright that the vulgus is unaware of the acromatic.