Hello, Recently I inherited this statue, and don't know anything about him. So if anyone has any idea of period, maker, anything at all please comment. Thanks!!
You're identifying him as a conquistador by his helmet but that style was worn widely in Europe so doesn't provide definite identification. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morion_(helmet) Debora
The mustache, what I belive is a sword, and the rest of the outfit in my opinion would indicate a conquistador.
Yeah, in the arm that is broken he is holding a bottle of drink and in the other it is some form of box.
Oh, now I see the broken arm sitting at his feet. It does appear to be holding a bottle of some kind.
Conquistador is the generic name given to this style of statue. People usually know the style of helmet and armor of the conquistadors and associate it with them. As the Wikipe... page on the Morion helmet says: "Its introduction was contemporaneous with the exploration of North, Central, and South America. Explorers like Hernando de Soto and Coronado may have supplied them to their foot soldiers in the 1540s." I think the statue is probably spelter. Many of these spelter conquistador figures were used as newel post lamps. The newel post lamps were usually held high over the conquistador's head. Neither arm of yours is really held high enough. Sometimes they were a stem of a lamp or had a lamp on a pole behind them. Then again some were just statues. Does this one have a hole or opening that would accommodate a lamp? Here are a couple online: These are said to be white metal which is spelter: http://www.prices4antiques.com/Newe...al-Patinated-Bronze-Finish-52-i-D9816774.html https://new.liveauctioneers.com/item/23871036_amazing-antique-conquistador-figural-newel-post-lamp This isn't a conquistador but a spelter figural newel post lamp: https://www.marks4antiques.com/apa/Attractive-American-Bronzed-Spelter-2efc8 This is just a spelter conquistador statue: https://www.marks4antiques.com/apa/VINTAGE-SPELTER-CONQUISTADOR-STATUE-8387 BTW, around the base is there anything else but oak leaves and a shield? Do look the base over carefully for a foundry mark or a signature. This probably dates from the last quarter of the 19th century to the 1st quarter of the 20th century. --- Susan
