Antique religious

Hello all.
I have a religious piece.
It's very old .
It has a signature on the reverse and and number which is 1700.
Not sure what the number means. Can't remember what this is called. Any info would be much help.

 

Might be plaster relief or meerschaum, not too familiar with them though.
Can you put some cinnamon dust on the back which will help us read the writing etc?

 

This was called a plaster bas relief but I would think they were more of an alto relief

 

These were popular in Roman Catholic Europe in the late 19th century. We see them a lot here in the Netherlands too. They may have been made in France, but I'm not sure.
The frame is ebonized, which was popular in the late 19th century. They always had convex glass in the frame to prevent the scene from getting dirty.

The subject is Christ and the little children:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_of_Jesus_about_little_children

 

Maybe if you could take some close-ups of any writing you see on the Paper on the back AND on the 'Plaster'....that might help some of us as well....!

 

I have seen the material variously described as plaster, meerschaum or pipe clay. My guess is that pipe clay is another name for meerschaum. Yours looks old enough to be meerschaum, not a plaster copy. Meerschaum is much lighter in weight than plaster, which may give you a clue about the nature of this one.

 

Meerschaum is sepiolite, which is cream coloured. These religious scenes could indeed be carved from sepiolite.

Pipe clay is kaolin, the same clay porcelain is made of, except when used for pipe making it usually wasn't fired to porcelain temperatures. It is more white than sepiolite:



Here in the Low Countries they used to make molded religious statues of pipe clay, but those are white and don't have the definition of these cream coloured carved scenes. They are also much older, Medieval.
The one below is was dug up in Dordrecht, the Netherlands. It is greyish from having been in the soil, but you can see the white kaolin here and there:


https://www.catawiki.nl/l/2461303-middeleeuws-pijpaarde-beeld-van-de-heilige-barbera-24-cm

 

Thank you. Always good to get correct terminology. Not sure eBay sellers are any more clear on the difference than I was, since pipe bowls are carved from meerschaum, the confusion comes naturally.

 

True.

 

there are so many terms used. Stuck in German, Stucco in Italian etc..; gypsum mixed with special cements and to reinforce sometimes fine metalmesh or even straw.
easisest would be to use a wee drop of extremely thinned hydrochloric acid and ask an old specialist what the reaction says about the basic material.

 

True lime plaster, as well as marble, contains calcium carbonate (CaCO3). When tested with hydrochloric acid, you can observe effervescence/fizzing, as the reaction generates CO2. Calcium sulphate (gypsum) and sepiolite do not contain carbonates and will not effervesce.