ATTN: Junk/Antique Experts. Need Help Identifying this 'whatchamacallit!'

[romantico]

Has anyone ever seen anything like this or know what it is? I may have posted this here before (I can't remember) I've had it for years,belonged to my Grandma who collected a lot of antiques and odds and ends. I photographed this a couple years ago after I cleaned it and it was very bright. I have no silver/brass polish so I could not clean it up and wanted people to see how it looks right now in case I try and sell it somewhere. Its bronze and stands about 5 1/2 inches tall. Looks like a mermaid design. Very ornate. My best guess so far is a page turner perhaps. Any ideas?

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[sigmasix]

1. a key?

could it be some sort of key-like device?

[Yavin4]

16. a key to another dimension????

"Are you the key master?"

[romantico]

2. Interesting

Interesting guess but not sure how it would work. Another possibility I suppose could be a pull like one you'd see on a hanging lamp or ceiling fan or something.I'm throwing guesses out here at random. I have no clue.

[In_The_Wind]

3. Just a guess: A shoe horn

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. wow. I have no idea.

Very cool tho.

[petronius]

5. I think it's a knuckle-rapper

When kids get uppity, you whack 'em with the flat end to larn 'em some manners.


How about just a paper-weight? Looks like it might spread nicely over a stack of lose papers on a desk...

[romantico]

6. I

I don't think its heavy enough for a paper weight, but then again who knows.My first guess is it has something to do with a boat or nautical. I say that because of the mermaid figure I guess. I suppose it would display well.

[hedgehog]

7. My first thought was that iti is a handle for a hand mirror, but I don't think so.

It does look similar to an Art Nouveau mermaid letter opener I saw on E-bay. So, could it be part of a dress set or desk set? It's tempting to see the hands as having held something, but I don't see how this would have been done without blocking the face.

[NightWatcher]

8. Papal back scratcher?

[pinboy3niner]

9. Jesus trailer hitch tightener

For some hitches you can't use a spanner--you need a tightener that's holy different. And now, let us tighten...

[elvisbear]

10. Door knocker?

Where the arms would be part of the hinge.

[truegrit44]

11. if you are signed up on ebay

you can go to the main page click on community then go to discussion groups and then there are specific groups and you will find antiques. I bet if you posted it on there someone would know what it was. I personally have no idea.......

[Lars39]

12. Lid lifter for a dutch oven.

[StanGr]

13. Dead man on a stick ornament

[olddots]

14. A very ornate coke spoon from the mid 80s

[Aerows]

15. Ressurection of Christ

ornamental piece. The Father is the piece at the bottom. It's designed to be a hanging piece is my guess.

[trof]

17. It's called a 'Fenetra Callibrater'. From the Victorian Age.

From wiki:
"Fenetra Callibraters were tools, usually very ornate, used to adjust the opening of windows of the casement type or awning type. The windows had a metal fixture attached to the frame with a small ring for a grip. A finger could be used to adjust the window's opening, but using one's own finger was considered to be 'plebeian'.

Upper class English Victorians instead used the Fenetra Callibrater.
Nautical themes were popular."
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?search=Fenetra+Callibrater&button=&title=Special%3ASearch

Yours appears to be a mermaid with her tail entwined in a kelp strand.
The bas relief face on the end is undoubtedly King Edward VII.
You're welcome.

[burnodo]

18. Well done!

[trof]

19. Thenk yew.

One does one's best.

[NYC_SKP]

29. Google search for "Fenetra Callibrater" goes nowhere. I've tried different spellings, and your wiki

wiki link goes nowhere.

Please check it again, maybe it was an erroneous wiki entry.

Typically, it would be "fenestra" for fenestration or opening.

Also, I think the wealthy would have had people to do their window adjustments, so the idea that they needed this to do that seems questionable.

Not you, but whomever wrote it.

[trof]

31. Don't look now, but your leg is being pulled.

[antiquie]

32. But

now my legs don't match.

[trof]

33. Try a physical therapist.

[pinboy3niner]

34. A few sessions with the Pulled-Leg Evener should do the trick...

[antiquie]

35. ~

[pinboy3niner]

36. You may have gotten punk'd by trof earlier, but you were the first to 'get' this one

You are hereby redeemed.

[NYC_SKP]

43. Bwahahaha!

You beast!

[eppur_se_muova]

21. That's probably "fenestra" (latin for window) ... and the link goes nowhere. nt

[petronius]

24. Are you sure it's not a brass magnet?

[Chan790]

25. Did you also once work in a screw foundry of a USDoD contractor?

I got sent on a wild goose chase for the brass magnet when I worked for one despite the fact that I kept telling people that brass isn't magnetic because neither the zinc or copper component of brass is magnetic.

I returned the favor by submitting a requisition for a dehydrated-water fire-extinguisher in case there was an electrical fire.

[trof]

20. Find a reputable dealer in antique Victorian curios.

If your piece is solid brass (not brass plated nickel) it may be worth upwards of $75, 000.
Many (if not most) of these tools were melted down during WWI to make brass shell casings.
Yours may be exceedingly rare.

[romantico]

22. Whoa!

Whoa, thanks! At least I now have a name to go by. I would have never found that out so thanks alot!

[grasswire]

23. DO NOT POLISH

Don't you ever watch Antiques Roadshow??

Very often, the value of a piece is greatly cut by any polishing or refinishing or cleaning of the patina!

[No Vested Interest]

26. Antiques Roadshow also has a site where questions and photos are shown

Antiquesroadshow.com.
I also agree - Do not polish - at least at this time.

[hermetic]

27. You should post this

in the EBay, Collectors, Flea Market & Antiques Group. http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=forum&id=1026

They've helped me solve some interesting mysteries.

[csziggy]

28. British Antiques Roadshow on Ovation had an item similar

The appraiser was not sure what it was, but thought it might be a mirror handle minus the mirror. The one they had was of a naked female figure and the overall size was much shorter appearing than yours.

In another segment on a different episode there was a mermaid item - not sure what it was, I wasn't paying much attention. But the appraiser mentioned that French mermaids had two legs until they merged for the tail while English mermaids had a single tail from the body down. From that, your item may have been French made.

Sorry I don't have more info - Ovation suns the old BBC Antiques Roadshow episodes weekdays, three or four per day. I tend to have them on in the background while doing other stuff. You might check Ovation episode listings to see if you can find more information. I know the episodes I saw were this week, probably Wednesday or Thursday.

[NYC_SKP]

30. Not a page turner. Can you identify the figure on the handle? Skakespeare or some royal figure?

That could be the main clue, and secondly the mermaid motif may help solve the puzzle.

I don't think it's a window adjuster, but it may have had a purpose in a library or on a ship.

[pinboy3niner]

37. Medieval Underwear Straightener

Don't ask.

[pinboy3niner]

38. Holy backscratcher

Which definitely beats the hell out of the Unholy backscratcher.

[NYC_SKP]

44. It's a "marital aid".

Duh.

[haele]

39. Doorknocker?

Those arms look s bit worn, like they were fit into some sort of hinge device.

Haele

[RushIsRot]

40. Any early reader of Mad Magazine would instantly recognize that object as a

Left-handed Veeblefetzer.

[Duer 157099]

41. I agree with the guess upthread about doorknocker

The arms would slip into loops and swing.

I bet it originally was designed not as a mermaid but as Jesus, and they'd put them on their doors so that when people would use them, they'd say "Jesus is knocking at your door."

Probably modified the design to a mermaid when they needed a secular version.

[Baitball Blogger]

42. Do not polish it up.

If it's an antique the value will drop.