The object of the day: Carved and Etched Australian Cow Horn

An Unusual and Curious Carved and Etched Australian Cow Horn
(1800 to 1900 Australia)

Medium
Cow Horn

Literature Captain Arthur Philip established a colony of Europeans at Sydney Cove in 1788 and a trading seaport soon followed and it is possible that a sailor from Sydney who had also visited the Admiralty Islands on a voyage made this horn.
Kangaroos were once plentiful in the Sydney area and aborigines were observed using a variety of methods for hunting them, but although the young colony needed a supply of fresh meat, kangaroo flesh was not popular with Europeans. The Emu is one of two flightless birds in Australia and was once hunted widely. Their inquisitive nature was often their downfall as the hunters would mimic their call attracting them close enough to club or spear.
Wiped out in the wave of settlement that followed 1788 the aboriginal people in the area surrounding Sydney were gone so quickly that their culture had sunk without trace almost before anyone noticed.


Description / Expertise An Unusual and Curious Carved and Etched Australian Cow Horn
Decorated with an emu, a kangaroo, the figure of an Admiralty islander and two stylised armourials surmounted with kangaroo heads
Early 19th Century

Size: 38cm long – 15 ins long

Standard British hallmarks

Great Britain operates the most rigorous system of hallmarking anywhere in the world. The first statute governing standards was passed in 1238, but the proper system came into operation with the introduction of the leopard's head mark in 1300, to be struck on both silver and gold throughout the realm. The standard set for coinage (92.5 %) was also used for silver objects. In 1363 a further statute was passed by which every gold and silversmith added his maker's mark to pieces (at this time in the form of symbols as few could read or write) to counteract the widespread practice of forging the leopard's head mark on substandard wares. in 1478, the third mark was added in the form of a letter. 

From this date all work had to be taken to Goldsmith's Hall for testing and marking by touchwardens (hence, Hall Marks). This was to stop gold and silversmith from bribing the touchwardens who had previously come to their workshop to do the testing and marking. Substandard wares had been marked, accepted by the Mint and converted directly into coinage which led to a loss of confidence in the currency. But with this third mark, originally called the Assay Master's mark, the Assay Master or touchwarden could be identified if a marked piece was found to be substandard.

Ceramic glaze

A glaze is a glossy or glassy film that is fused to the ceramic body during firing. It is usually formed from powdered minerals added to water and washed or painted over the object. A glaze can be shiny or matt, hard or soft
After application, the ceramic is fired, and the powdered coating melts into a hard, glass-like coating. A ceramic glaze is usually for decoration or protection and most glazes can be considered specialised forms of glass.
Glazing is functionally important for earthenware vessels, which without it would be unsuitable for holding liquids. In addition to the functional aspects, aesthetic forms include a smooth pleasing surface, the degree of gloss and variegation, and finished color.
Ceramic glazes can also enhance an underlying design or texture which can be the natural texture of the clay or an inscribed, carved or painted design.

Read more about Collecting Antique Ceramics Pottery and Porcelain by www.antique-marks.com

A glaze is a glossy or glassy film that is fused to the ceramic body during firing. It is usually formed from powdered minerals added to water and washed or painted over the object. A glaze can be shiny or matt, hard or soft
After application, the ceramic is fired, and the powdered coating melts into a hard, glass-like coating. A ceramic glaze is usually for decoration or protection and most glazes can be considered specialised forms of glass.
Glazing is functionally important for earthenware vessels, which without it would be unsuitable for holding liquids. In addition to the functional aspects, aesthetic forms include a smooth pleasing surface, the degree of gloss and variegation, and finished color.
Ceramic glazes can also enhance an underlying design or texture which can be the natural texture of the clay or an inscribed, carved or painted design.

Read more about Collecting Antique Ceramics Pottery and Porcelain by www.antique-marks.com

A glaze is a glossy or glassy film that is fused to the ceramic body during firing. It is usually formed from powdered minerals added to water and washed or painted over the object. A glaze can be shiny or matt, hard or soft
After application, the ceramic is fired, and the powdered coating melts into a hard, glass-like coating. A ceramic glaze is usually for decoration or protection and most glazes can be considered specialised forms of glass.
Glazing is functionally important for earthenware vessels, which without it would be unsuitable for holding liquids. In addition to the functional aspects, aesthetic forms include a smooth pleasing surface, the degree of gloss and variegation, and finished color.
Ceramic glazes can also enhance an underlying design or texture which can be the natural texture of the clay or an inscribed, carved or painted design.

Read more about Collecting Antique Ceramics Pottery and Porcelain by www.antique-marks.com

A glaze is a glossy or glassy film that is fused to the ceramic body during firing. It is usually formed from powdered minerals added to water and washed or painted over the object. A glaze can be shiny or matt, hard or soft
After application, the ceramic is fired, and the powdered coating melts into a hard, glass-like coating. A ceramic glaze is usually for decoration or protection and most glazes can be considered specialised forms of glass.

Tin glazed Italian plate

Glazing is functionally important for earthenware vessels, which without it would be unsuitable for holding liquids. In addition to the functional aspects, aesthetic forms include a smooth pleasing surface, the degree of gloss and variegation, and finished color.
Ceramic glazes can also enhance an underlying design or texture which can be the natural texture of the clay or an inscribed, carved or painted design.

Napoleon III side-cabinet

A Napoleon III Ormolu and Florentine Pietre Dure-Mounted ebony and ebonized side-cabinet

Third quarter 19th century

The breakfront grey-veined white marble top above a conforming case and vine-branch frieze, over a door centered with a fruit and flower-filled vase, the interior with two shelves, the sides each with a musical trophy, the angles with female busts, on shaped apron and block feet
47½ in. (120.5 cm.) high, 51¾ in. (151.5 cm.) wide, 20½ in. (52 cm.) deep

Estimate price
$2,500 - $3,500

Old manuscripts: "A" leaf from a folio Breviary

detail

Isaiah, historiated initial 'A' on a leaf from a folio Breviary,
 in Latin, Illuminated Manuscript On Vellum
[Germany, probably Saxony, c.1435]

454 x 320mm, the initial 125 x 113mm. In the infill the prophet supports a book on the horizontal of the A, while a younger man beneath it holds a scroll, both those figures and the monochrome figures of Gabriel and the Annunciate Virgin in the staves point to Isaiah's prophecy of the Incarnation that continues from book to scroll; the foliate borders contain birds, a collared monkey, a pope, a cardinal and a wild man who holds a heraldic shield, azur, an imperial eagle or (marginal soiling, wear affecting figures in lower margin, some spotting, slight cropping, edges strengthened with paper strips on verso).