Featured Antic Carved Cavalier in ceramic or terracota set into a silver pendant.

Hi again,
Here is a nice decouverte....Thought it was a resine copy of an old carved cavalier...Set in plated silver.....
After nice cleaning and polishing,here is what looks like an old original object...Maybe a religious soldier cavalier..???
Dims> 4.5cm x 5cm only the carved stone object.
No idea about provenance...Maybe french or italian...Not sure about stone or terracota...For sure the setting pendant is younger but for sure solid silver ..No marks..!!
Please help...As usual Big Thanks in advance...!!!! JJB

 

Looks like St George slaying the Dragon?

 

It looks carved to me. It is a very interesting object. I like the little face down by the tip of the spear. That guy is having a bad day!

 

??? BIG Thanks...Is it British..?? St Georges..?? What period you think..?? Thanks

 

Any info wecome..!! Big thanks

 

Merci 2U..!!!

 

The figure being speared does not look like a dragon, but like a man. So perhaps it depicts Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki (Dimitrios Myrovatis).


https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Demetrius_of_Thessaloniki

 

The St. George mythos got very tangled over millennia. Is he slaying a 'dragon'? The Devil? Enemies of the State? Enemies of Christianity? Witches? It could even depict St. Demetrius, also portrayed in near-identical horse-hero mode. I saw them side-by-side in old churches in the Cyclades. The distinction there was George rode a white horse and St. Dem a red one. OR George is slaying a dragon and Demetrius a human, AKA Maximiam. My rather fuzzy point here is.. don't take the symbolism too literally, as far as origin and usual suspects. The more I learn, the less I know for certain.

 

The cracks around the outer rim suggest it might be ceramic (terracotta), and may have been made with an intaglio stamp. As the stamp was pressed into the wet clay, it would expand the outer edges, causing the cracks.

 

That makes sense, it being a stamp of some sort. But a typical intaglio looks more concave to me.

 

My first thought when I saw it was St George. I think someone meant this piece of clay was pressed into an intaglio or old stamp to make a copy, and then the copy was set into silver. However they did it, it's old.

 

How old you think..??

 

Wouaou..!! Very interesting and acnowledgeble ..Big Thanks Sir or Madam...Any idea how old is this small carving..??

 

Absolutely no idea. I can't even guess.

 

Madam. I don't know either. The style looks medieval to me. Terracotta has been around since about 10,000 BCE, so that's not much help. But at least you now have a start date! Maybe start enquiring with museums. Check which ones have these sorts of things in their collections. A great research tool is Google Lens, we use it a lot around here. It can often point you in the right direction quickly. https://lens.google/

 

Sniper!

 

Yes, I meant the original stamp would be intaglio (recessed), producing a medallion in relief. Such a stamp could have been used to make multiples of the final medallion.

 

Ok ..Understood now..Big Thanks

 

OK Big Thanks Will do some more inquiries..!!!