Featured Brutalist Pendant and Small Plaque

I decided it was better to put the plaque in this thread, too, since it's small enough to have once been a jewelry piece and the small amount of glue/solder on the back suggests it might have once been a pin, in my mind. Since I don't have a tester kit, I'm not sure what the pendant or the plaque are made out of. Both appear to have a dark patina, but the pendant looks more like pewter to me. Neither have hallmarks.
As you can see in the first photograph, the pendant appears to be signed on the back: Ab ... lv. However, I am not sure what the signature is, or if those area even letters.

 

You're right, it is tin or pewter. You probably found it in Germany, where it could have been made, so tin is more likely. Brutalist jewellery makers worked a lot with non-precious materials which emphasised the crude look of a piece.
It looks like members of a rock band standing on top of a dachshund with a llama head, but I am sure the maker had something else in mind.

The plaque is beautiful. I agree also base metal, difficult to say which alloy. The image is very Art Nouveau/Symbolist, and it could be from that period.
You didn't give the size, but maybe originally a lapel pin?

 

Haha, yeah, I'm still in Germany. It feels a bit on the heavy side, but I'm not sure if it's too heavy to be tin.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who sees the dachshund! I'm growing more and more fond of brutalist jewelry; I keep finding pieces here.

The plaque is 4 cm x 5 cm. I thought it looked art nouveau, too, but I wasn't sure. I wonder what the flowers are.

 

You are in the perfect place for Brutalist jewellery. Brutalism in jewellery was much more a Nordic thing, and parts of Germany have a more Nordic culture than strictly Central European. And I think it appeals to the old German back to nature thing.

We are also more Nordic, so there is a lot of Brutalist jewellery to be found here as well, although mostly mid-century import from Scandinavia and Finland.

Maybe it once graced the lid of a small trinket box? A wooden box with a tin plaque? The flowers are a bit chrysanthemum like. It is a very soulful piece.

 

The back of the plaque shows what looks like the remains of a modern pin back having been glued in place.

 

It's not glue,it's flux residue from solder.But that makes the piece a mystery,the solder melts at the approx temperature as tin and pewter.

 

I'm in North Rhine-Westphalia, so I wonder if it's more common here.

That's a good possibility. I'll probably end up repurposing it as a jewelry piece, if I can. I want to start getting into jewelry making/repairwork when I return to the states.

That's definitely a possibility.

I've seen the brown stuff before, and I've always assumed it's glue. That's awesome to know. I don't have a tester kit unfortunately, so I'll have to wait to figure out what it's made out of.

 

The brutalist pieces turn up in Israel too, but I agree that looks more European. The pin with the lady in the forest looks like something out of Sweden from the 1970s. The artwork is dead on for 70s fantasy pieces and I'd lay odds that's a birch forest behind her. The Swedes did a ton of pewter jewelry, as did the Danes. She could be something from a fairy tale.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Sterling-S...rdt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2349624.m43663.l10137

Here’s the subject, but I can’t say what yours is made of. This is openwork.

 

Honest to goodness, I think you're magic.

 

You are too kind!

 

Oh my god. That's incredible. How did you find it?

 

My search terms:
vintage silver pin repousse lady in forest

 

@i need help

But it is not repousse,it is cast.

 

Ok, Thank you.

 

Yes, it is Nordic enough. Practically next door to me.