I acquired this cement basin I presume is meant as a birdbath but am uncertain. It's made of the old sort of cement that has rocks mixed into it. I'm very curious as to the ship therein depicted, "HMS COPYRIGHT" is the name however, I cannot find a Royal Navy ship of that name, ever existed. The sails seem to be representative of different countries (fleur de lis, sunset) other than Britain. Anyone have any ideas? I'm not looking for an appraisal, just information on its history. It weighs 75 pounds.
Yes it is obviously a compass round the rim. I am very curious as to the ship; I wonder if it is fictitious? I doubt the lettering is meant as a copyright mark, it is so large. Also there is not a copyrighted image used, I don't think.
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/324180690316 there's yer boat.......more around.....seems to be a fantasy depiction..
OH you are awesome! I thought it may be a ship from literature or something, as the different sails from different countries make no sense. I wonder about the HMS lettering. A made up ship...why have an HMS designation...and that name? The cast iron object in your photo is from 1920s, per listing. I wonder if that puts this basin at same era.
if the image was popular at that time.....I would expect yours to be more or less of the same period.....
I found this one last night, I didn't put an image up as the page is "Copyrighted" If you right click the picture it explains. http://www.gifarmer.com/radio/speaker/radio-speaker-cone_tower-adventurer-bronze.shtml
YES I found several of those radio speakers after looking. Tower Mfg Co, Boston, made this radio speaker. So interesting. Design must be theirs, all examples of it I can find are of their speaker. I now think the ship is the actual cast iron piece, affixed somehow to the basin, as the border seems to show rust by the color. Thanks guys, I have another odd piece I'm going to post about since you guys are so helpful. It's a pewter (?) abraxas image amulet (?), very worn in a fashion that only time will do. I've wondered about it for years.
Given Tower Manufacturing Co. was an American company, I would suspect the HMS has another meaning, perhaps that of the image copyright holder, and is not related to the Royal Navy. The company appears to have used this galleon image only for their Adventurer model which, according to the internet, was first advertised in 1927. (And just to state the obvious, Tower Manufacturing manufactured radio "towers" or speakers.) On the Adventurer, I see symbols for Spain or Spanish Colonial America, France, Japan and the Ottoman Empire. An odd mix. Perhaps they symbolize the delivery of news from far off corners of the world. Debora
This is fabulous, thank you! One wonders how a design exclusive to Tower Mfg speaker ended up on a cement basin. I cannot understand the letters at all; they're an inch high and placed at the very top, surely not meant as a copyright? They're so noticeable and prominent they must be meant as part of the overall piece. Baffling.
It is an odd piece. Heavy and unwieldy so not designed by accident. To my eye, looks like a bird bath. Debora
SO odd! Yes, has to be a birdbath. Miles away from radio speakers, no connection thereto, then the addition of the compass and those darned strange HMS letters. Who would even come up with this. I'm trying to discern if the ship is an actual cast iron speaker frame somehow affixed. The border appears rust colored.
