Featured Solid Brass antique Mortar & Pestle. Heavy as Hell!!

Salutations, good sir, mistress! How might I aid thee? If thou wilt give me thine ingredients, smite them I shall, 'til they's be nothing but the finest of powders! I surely can for thee, grindeth the finest of medicines and curatives for all thy ills!

This BEAST of a Mortar and Pestle (it weighs 2.2kgs, or almost 5lbs!), was my purchase today.

As you can see, it's been around the block a few times! I've tried guesstimating its age, but I honestly have no idea. I certainly don't think it's anything new.

Things like this obviously date back CENTURIES, but I have no way of knowing its real age. I'd say at least Victorian. It looks well-used!

 

Need a picture of the bottom.
These are still being produced.

 

Agree, like to see bottom and large end of pestle. Size?

 

No marks on the mortar or the pestle. They both have that rough texture on them.

Pestle: 7in. high/long.

Mortar: 4in. high, 5in across at the mouth.

 

The bases, as requested:

 

Well it isn't like any of the reproductions I've seen. It could well be "right" but the extensive amount of bubbling from dissolved gases strikes me as a bit odd. Like the maker wasn't too experienced in casting this metal and didn't know how to de-gas the molten metal before pouring. I don't often see castings that gassy as they would usually be remelted to try again. Dunno.

 

huh?

 

What spring is saying is that the metal was melted then poured. But the gases were not allowed to escape before being cast. That is why there is so much pitting.

I would think an older piece would not have been so poorly done, but I don't know for sure.

 

These were usually made of bronze, not brass, less prone to corrosion. A brass one would be a modernish decor item.

It was a utility object, I doubt if they'd have been all that fussed about a few bubbblw marks on the bottom.

THese can be very old but not all that valuable, I recently sold three for about £60

 

Very old (17th C) Dutch ones can bring very good money if in VG condition with founder's name, date, and town cast into them. Maybe Santa will bring one, I've been waiting for decades. The bronze founders of the period would cast anything a customer could pay for-bells, cannons, mortar/pestle sets, etc. Always wanted one where I had a Cannon by the same founder, but now that all the Dutch cannons were sold off, I still want an early, signed Dutch pharmaceutical mortar. Santa, hope you read this!

 

Thanks for the answers, everyone!!

I've always wanted a brass mortar & pestle. When I saw this, I had to have it.

My own gut-feeling is that it is most likely an antique.

If it was new (and I have no doubt that you could easily buy a new one), then it'd either look prematurely aged, or it'd look bloody perfect, or it'd have all these marks and dates and numbers on it, which this obviously doesn't.

As AF says, M&Ps were used by everyone back in the day. Whether they looked perfect or not was probably the last thing anybody cared about, so long as you could beat the hell out of it, and it wouldn't crack.

This is before food-processors and stuff. If you were a pharmacist or an apothecary, a cook, a housewife...anybody who did anything with herbs, spices and whatnot...you likely had one sitting around. And since they're DESIGNED to be bashed up, I don't think people cared about the pitting.

I also agree with AF about this not being that valuable. I mean if it was a dated one from a famous foundry or something, then perhaps it might be, but a bog-standard brass/bronze M&P must've been something VERY common back then. I paid a bit more than I would've liked, but it was still very cheap. MUCH cheaper than I thought it was gonna be. So I'm happy.

Ideally I would've liked a mortar with a handle, but hey, we take what we can get.

Personally I like the pitting. It gives it an aged look, but it also dissuades me from polishing it, which I think would be a horrible thing to do to this, anyway.

 

Perhaps the austerity of the design works in your favor. Wouldn't a modern decorative piece be more - um - decorative?

 

Well that's what I thought, as well. If it was modern, wouldn't they try and make it look all perfect and pretty? I don't think so. That's why I felt it was antique. Also, I'd expect a more modern one to be shined up the wazoo...and this one isn't.

 

It's been around the block a few times, but I'm not sure how old this one really is. This looks like a utility piece, maybe from a pharmacy. I worked in one for a few years over 20 years ago and they still had one kicking around.

 

The antique ones as AF mentioned were bronze, but the reason was durability, bronze is harder than brass. A brass mortar would wear inside with use, and also give up tiny amounts of the metal which would mix with the stuff being ground. Sometimes you can tell bronze from brass in a bell-like shape by ringing it. Bronze will give a clear tone and ring for a relatively long time compared to brass which has a kind of dull, short duration ring tone. Scrap dealers can tell brass from bronze using spark or xrf analyzers.

 

More things will corrode brass, and faster. The zinc content is the weak point. Durability is one good reason but you really don't wany verdegris in your food or medicine.

 

I see we still haven't reached a consensus.

So is this brass, or bronze, in your opinions? And is it old? Or not? Pre-1900? Pre-1950? 1800s?

I have struck this several times with the pestle, and it does give a very nice, high-pitched ringing sound. I have read that M&Ps were made of bell metal. Would that be the same material used here?

 

Bell metal is bronze. Bronze is an alloy so there are various mixtures of metals used to make it. Fundamentally it is copper with some tin. Different proportions make bronze for specific uses. Nowadays you get exotic bronzes, with beryllium, for example. Back in the day the proportion of copper to tin was the only variable. The more tin, the more durable, and the more expensive. Up to a point, anyway.

For a fuller explanation Google 'bronze alloys'

 

I'd look for use-wear next. Interior bottom of mortar, business end of pestle and shaft of pestle where it meets the rim of the mortar.

Of course it could have been sitting for centuries without being used, but I'd bet against it.

Folks like these objects and brass too. Modern or not, it's a nice piece.

 

The exterior of the mortar and pestle are rough and nubbly and they look like they've got a lot of impact dents, but the ball at the bottom of the pestle and the bowl of the mortar are comparatively smooth.