Featured Solid Brass Mortar and Pestle (yes, another one...!)

I am hopelessly addicted to anything made of brass...







I've no idea how old it is, but it's certainly not new. it's been bashed on for centuries. I loved the symmetry of it, and the rings cut into the sides when it was made.

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Antique-Sol...e10031c&pid=100337&rk=1&rkt=1&sd=150754902135

 

For me it looks like antique pharmacy mortar. Just google it and will see even similar with yours. Most of posting with information it is from England but age is different: from 18th to 19th centuries. And price from $30 to $900.

 

I can't recall seeing a pharm. mortar with that wine-glass shape, nor one with a concave base. But I'm no pharm. tool expert. I think it would be harder to use than the common type due to the elevated center of gravity.

 

I've had dates for these things thrown at me, everything from 1680 to 1880, so they're not easy to date. I'd say this is 18th century. It's had a LOT of wear on it, as you can see.

I don't know if this is specifically for a pharmacy or not. Just because it's brass or bronze doesn't mean it is. There were loads of these manufactured for domestic use, I'm sure. I bought it because I loved the shape, and the rings on it.

 

The one at the link is a very sloppily-made new one.

 

The one I have once had some very nice decorations on it.

There's rings on the inside of the base. There's rings on the outside, going up the walls. There's rings INSIDE the mortar (god knows why!), and there's a little dotted pattern around the collar at the top, some of which has worn away. That leads me to think that this has some quite significant age to it.

Just like my last set, this one is also lathe-turned (you can see the drill-marks in the pestle). The pestle also has rings going up and down it, and the ridge in the middle is off-center, so that one end is definitely meant to be the handle, and the larger, flat end is the head for pounding.

The ridge in the pestle rests just at the edge of the mortar when it's inside.

I bought this piece from a very nice old Scotsman at the flea-market. He sells all kinds of metal things. Knives, razors, candlesticks, binoculars, silver cutlery, etc. etc.

I hadn't seen this one before. But I had to have it. He didn't know any more about it than I did, but he gave me what I reckon was a good price for it.

I found this one on Wikipedia, which is the same style:

 

YOUR pestle to me, looks to be a newer/different color of brass......although they both look NICE!!!!

 

A considerable amount of research online has led me to believe that this may be a Middle Eastern (or at least Mediterranean) mortar and pestle set.

I typed in "Middle Eastern Brass Mortar and Pestle", and a LOT that looked like this came up. It seems to have been the style that was most common in places like Greece, Turkey, and Arabia.

 

I'm glad u like the item. Using this for education for anyone interested, yes this a nice shiny item that's fairly well-crafted. Where it came from before the nice old Scotsman IHNI.

However if I had any reason to guess when it was produced, I can't find anything I usually take as "signs of age." Probably the most disappointing part of this item, age-guessing-wise, is the bottom edge or some would call foot. No wear is seen, and in fact there are even substantial burrs protruding downward which would have worn off very quickly if the piece had much use. I could go on but you can see where I'm going with it.

 

There's quite considerable staining and wear inside the mortar and loads of strike-marks on the pestle. That didn't get there overnight. So I'd say this certainly has some quite considerable age and use to it.