Large candle holders- Greek origin?

Good heavens!

 

The mind bogles.

Debora

 

Hi all,thanks for the interesting conversation. I agree there was a repair done previously. Also (being in contact with the previous owner) these used to mounted in a way and had additional footings originally (Iam also now getting the footings later this week)One unfortunately is broken,as I understand.

 

Anyway,not sure if anyone is still interested,but there’s some close-up photos of the coins and writing. I also now got a additional “medallion’ piece that was probably mounted/attached in some way . Keep well

 

I'm still interested. Have been wrestling with the inscription.



The language is Greek or one related to Greek. The problem is the script: it uses characters that are not part of either classical or modern Greek capitals. The first word ends in OU (should be OY in Greek), which indicates 'of' or 'by'. Don't think it says MADE BY HAND, so expect it is maker's mark. The letters that are not standard Greek are V, U, L & S. In Greek the lower case letter that looks like V is ν, nu, n. And the U would be correct as a lower case upsilon, υ. This transliteration gives AINZOU for the first word, phonetically reasonable.

Assuming the L & S are pronounced like their Roman counterparts, & keeping V as N, the second word comes out as LOSN, not phonetically reasonable.

Maybe the V is a different letter than N, E, for instance, the only vowel that does not clearly appear. Greek has 2, eta (H) & epsilon (E). My Greek is nearly non-existent, but think words don't usually end in epsilon, but sometimes do end in eta.

Plugging this into a Greek keyboard & an internet translator, the program recognizes it as Greek. It does not translate it. They may both be proper names, in which case the translator might leave them alone.

Maybe someone with a command of modern Greek will come along & sort this out. Meanwhile, looks like I was quite wrong about their not being made in Greece.

 

Hi Bronwen,thank you for your efforts and response. Your summary makes for interesting reading. I was also trying the Greek and then ancient Greek translator and then Latin (and was getting nowhere) But as you rightfully say things don’t quite make sense. I was hoping the inscription is the key. These were so well and elaborately made that it must mean something (well that’s what I think) I was also thinking on finding a translator or language specialist that I can go see.

 

Hi, I just saw this today and despite being a Greek I can't make out any word. It's all Greek to me hahaha. Perhaps somebody tried to put random letters that look like Greek, who knows. Anyway it is a nice piece of art.

 

Hi Zinovia,at last a Greek person, great! I was still wondering about the wording. Ha ha yes, not so great that it is also “Greek” to you.. .. But at least now I know. Many thanks for the response. Much appreciated

 

Those have a very high WOW factor. I ran the pictures by my friend Maria who is a Greek archaeologist and tour guide. She spends a lot of time in Greek historic houses and museum collections. She and her colleague both say definitely not Greek! That's all I could get out of them!

 

Design Toscano is guilty of quite a number of crimes against aesthetic humanity. https://www.designtoscano.com/

 

It's a relief to know it's gobbledegook. Looks like designer did not know Greek alphabet.

 

Hi,many thanks for your comments and for going the extra mile and asking someone like your friend Maria (her credentials and background sounds very impressive) I really appreciate the effort. So confirmed definitely NOT Greek. I like these candle holders and looking at them now I just really wish to know their story (but atlas they keep their secret well)

 

Indeed!

 

Maria is amazing. She works for Peter Sommer Travels: Their gulet tours are highly recommended. https://www.petersommer.com/
Anywhere you go in Greece, Maria can recount the mythology that occurred there, as well as the historical facts. It's a lovely balance!

 

She sounds like she has a wealth of knowledge and must be excellent tour quide to have when visiting Greece!