cement birdbath is it antique?

Before I break my back looking for marks, does anyone think this is an antique or recognize the design? Having lugged this, I'd say the bowl part weighs a good 50-60 lbs, and the base another 40 or 50. Thanks!

 

It likely won't have marks. It looks very old, near antique, but in closer
inspection of the concrete and the way it is pitting, I think it is not pure portland, but an aggregate. Not sure it's antique, could be from the 1940s.

 

'Portland' is cement, this is concrete, and there will always be some type of aggregate added to the cement in order to make concrete (lessons learned early, when my father was head of personnel for the Portland Cement Assoc.) Some of the molds used for concrete garden ornaments have been used for literally decades, hard to date...

~Cheryl

 

Bit of looking around finds this very similar new production bowl on a different base (they're very often interchangeable):



This auction, the lot passed at a $45 starting bid, appears to have a similar base with a different bowl:




These two recent 'Sold' eBay listings for somewhat similar birdbaths, with local pick-up, sold pretty low (your local market may support higher prices):






~Cheryl

 

Ahem. May I point out that Portland is also a stone: much of Victorian high end London is built of it. It comes from the isle of Portland.

Over here, composite/concrete garden things sell very well if they're weathere and mossified nicely.

 

Hi,
Just a quick note. If you want the antique looking mossy finish. I smear yogurt with a live culture on cement animals and stuff and leave it within a few weeks the cement/concrete will start to turn a mossy look. If you want it faster just drop a few pieces of moss into a blender with yogurt and smear it on. Everyone who comes into my gardens always admire the antique cement figures. Some of them are only a year or two old.
greg

 

Lovely old birdbath dude !!! ... Joy.

 

You can also do that aging thing with liquid manure.

 

Neat to know, but I'll go with the yogurt!