Religious figure? or Indian girl? Old water fountain part? Help please

Figure is about 11" long, not including the metal sticking out each end. What is she? I can't even tell what she's made of. I thought concrete at first, then cast iron, but a magnet only sticks to certain parts of her?
Thanks for your time.

 

Indian girl seems a good guess but her hat or headpiece, if that's what it is, doesn't seem right though. Did princesses wear special head pieces?
Unless she has some great value I'd make her a fountain again.

 

Thanks king! Much appreciated. So you think she was a fountain part or piece? I wasn't sure.

 

Could have been a fountain piece like KoT mentioned- concrete statue form poured around a metal pipe piece.

 

Looks more like a spelter figure Scottish highlander in a kilt and wearing a tam. It could gave been a spelter figure stem of an oil lamp. The rod would have connected the base of the lamp up through the stem to the bottom of the font. Let me look around at my spelter figure oil lamp references.

--- Susan

 

Thank you Rayo56
Thanks Susan

 

I wonder if it could have been an old pub / counter lighter.

 

THAT's an interesting take indeed...

 

On Spelter figure oil lamps - the figurine bases were made of brass (some nickle plated) and pretty intricate. This figure is not highly detailed and made of a concrete type substance.

 

Looks kinda like badly corroded aluminum....from here that is.

 

Corroded aluminum is full of pits - as corrosion means the metal is eaten away by contact with the environment. This looks like smooth concrete as if water was running over it except at the base where it may have been submerged and effected by the chemicals in the water and also the bottom metal tubes are rusted but the top has only rust at the very top where the paint was worn off.

Or this is just a bunch of bull and I have no idea!!

 

annnnnnddd many early (1860s) spelter figural oil lamps came with square/rectangular marble, soapstone, and iron bases. The bases had a drilled hole through the middle that accommodated a rod that ran through it, up through the stem or kind of in back of the stem, and screwed into the connector that was attached to the font. Under the square/rectangular bases is a type of recessed hole that accomodates a nut that screws on to the bottom of the rod. Later (like 1880s on) spelter figural stems tended to have ornate brass and iron bases. Now I'm not sure if this is a lamp stem for haven't found this exact figural stem in any of my reference books yet. With the white, my first thought was a spelter figural lamp stem that had seen better days. No doubt you are probably right on the material, but still think it is an highlander in kilt and tam

http://home.earthlink.net/~filearchives/lamps/spelter/spelterfiglamps.html

--- Susan

 

Wow SIS that is very interesting indeed! Thank you!

 

Thanks king I know it may sort of look that way in pics but it's very heavy for its size, so I don't think it is aluminum.

 

Rayo56 & Susan thank you both so very much for your detailed explanations! I really appreciate the help and you have both opened up my mind!
I sure wish I could positively identify what it's made of. It does sort of look like concrete but when I tap it with my fingernail it sort of sounds/feels like metal???? I'm sorry I'm soooooo confused. Should I try to chip some of it off? To see if it is concrete?
Thanks everyone, you are all wonderful.

 

Well on the bottom put a small scratch with a sharp object - if it is bright silver color than it is a zinc compound, if it is concreted it will be dark white or grey.

 

I just never thought of it of being that old - could be!

 

Ok will do now thanks

 

It's definitely a bright silver color. Here's a pic, but the pic looks makes it look white. Thanks again.

 

ooops for got to enlarge