Antique Brass Mortar and Pestle..how old and country of origin?

Hi. I was given this antique brass mortar and pestle and was wondering if anyone here could figure out the age and perhaps worth. Thanks so much!

Height: 4.5"
Top Mortar Diameter: 4.5"
Bottom Mortar Diameter: 3.5'
Weight: 8 lbs? (it's quite heavy)

Pestle: 8" long
End of Pestle Diater: 1.5"

 

I'm thinking not so much an antique.....maybe @Shangas will know better....

 

Agree that it doesn't look terribly old.

Debora

 

Unfortunately these have been reproduced.

Can you post a picture of the bottom please.

 

Brass mortars and pestles were typically either cast, or spun on a lathe. If it was spun on a lathe, then there will almost certainly be a pinhole or little dip in the underside of the base, where it was mounted to the lathe during spinning. If the pestle was made the same way (and usually it would've been) then the same thing applies.

In my experience, reproductions of antiques often try "too hard" to make it look "old".

Like, they'll have lots of dents and dings and stuff, like this does.

Why?

Why would an antique have so much DAMAGE? Remember, these would've been EXPENSIVE when they were new. No apothecary or pharmacist would've just dropped their mortar on the floor. Excessive dents and stuff are a sign of suspicion.

For example, antique telescopes vs reproduction telescopes.

An antique will have tarnishing in key areas - areas that aren't often polished, inside, areas behind areas that have to be unscrewed.

A reproduction will have tarnishing EVERYWHERE because "it makes it look old". That doesn't mean it is! No genuine telescope would've had that much tarnishing, and even if it did, it wouldn't be a nice, even coating of tarnishing. If it is, it's fake.

Same with this: Why would it have LOTS OF DENTS AND DINGS all over everywhere?? A genuine mortar and pestle would have dents and dings, sure - but only in key places. The heads of the pestle, for example. Or the inside of the mortar. Or sometimes, on the base, from being dragged across workbenches and countertops.

But why would the middle of the pestle (where you grip it) have dents on it? It would make no sense. You're not smashing anything with that.

It's a nice piece, and it can certainly be used, if that's your intention. But I'm not sure if it's antique.

Another thing to consider is: These things were spun by hand. They will have inconsistencies. No two mortars and pestles were exactly the same, because even if they were made by the same lathe-operator, they'd each have their own quirks. If it looks really 'perfect' - perfect angles, perfect engravings, perfect everything - it's probably made by machine.

 

Sorry, I didn't want to overload my last post.

Here's a few examples of what I mean.

These are the mortars and pestles in my collection. These are all genuine antiques. Here, I'll show you what I'm talking about...

1). The lathe-mark on the bottom of the pestle, and the base of the mortar, here:


2). Another hole in the base of the mortar, here:


3). Another one, here:


4).Another one here, and in the head of the pestle (top of the picture)...


5). Here, you can see the lathe-mark on one of the knob-handles which has been affixed to the side of the mortar. Basically what that means is that the handles were spun as a pair on the lathe, then cut in half, then filed and shaped and then soldered or forged onto the sides of the mortar.


A real antique mortar and pestle will have marks like these. Another thing to pay attention to is all the dents and dings. You'll see that mine have dents and dings and chips, too. But notice the colour. They're much darker than the dents on yours. That means they happened a LONG time ago.

Your dents don't have that, which suggests they were done deliberately. The dents on mine were due to genuine heavy use, back when these things were tools, not collectibles.

Now, I dunno if all this stuff makes sense or not, but there it is. Examine the photos and compare them to yours.

 

Maybe it's not a mortar/pestle set at all? If I had it in hand, I'd be highly tempted to hold it by one of those little square handles & give it a tap with the 'pestle' to see how it sounds.

 

Shangas: I DO like it when people clearly explain their Thing! Thank you!

 

Hi and WELCOME to ANTIQUERS, @erika morgan !!!!!

 

It's a nice piece for what it is, but I can't tell if it's that old. I'd need clearer photos.

 

Posting pix full size lets everyone see them.

 

Thank you so much I really appreciate all of the information. I do not see any pin holes anywhere so Im guessing reproduction. I wonder why they made it so heavy? Thanks again everyone.

 

At the very least, I'd say this looks very suspicious.

Like I said earlier: People who reproduce things concentrate on the wrong areas.

"Oh it has to look old. Let's make it look REALLY OLD!!"

So they grind it, smash it, hit it...Look at the base on that thing. It's like someone beat it up with a sledgehammer (and they probably did).

The bases of none of mine look like that! And mine are 150, 200 years old. Also, I don't see any age-darkening. It's all bright and glossy. Even with my mortars and pestles, after polishing, there's some dark spots in the dents, from where it's just 150 years of tarnish. You don't see that here with yours.

It's my experience that reproductions (of anything) tend to be LIGHTER, but there's no reason why it can't also be heavy.

I'd say that this is almost certainly a reproduction. I'm seeing too many differences between that, and mine.

I mean that said - it is solid brass. So it'll last forever. It's good and heavy, so great for pounding and smashing...there's no reason why you can't use it. Or keep it in your kitchen as a food processor or decorative piece. But I doubt that it has any significant age to it.

 

I am actually going to use...it works great!

 

It's lovely for what it is. I will say that much, but an antique it ain't.

 

Hey @Shangas, I learned more from this thread than from several hours searching online about some mortar and pestles I recently acquired. I usually buy things to sell, but these have caught my interest and I'd love if you could share any thoughts you have about them. I'm brand new to the site, and not particularly tech savvy, but I will try to upload some photos and hope you could take a look. Thanks so much!

 

Well, nevermind, I guess. Every photo I've taken says it's too large to upload. Don't know how everyone is posting photos then.

 

@HEATH RAYMER Pics need to be under 1MB for this site.

If using your phone, try emailing them to yourself as size medium to re-size them.

You'll probably get more answers if you start your own thread instead to adding to a thread that is almost 2 years old.