Featured bronze cross

how old could this bronze cross be?

 

Love the cross Hunt,sadly it's almost impossible to determine the age of something (antiquities) w/ pics.If you have a local university you could ask them to test it for you.
There's a huge amount of lovely copies out there.

 

thank you nice cross yes and almost all so called old crosses are modern replica's

 

Very cool cross. But I will bet it’s not nearly as old as it sort of looks.

 

Continued good luck with your hunt for the ancient.

 

Very nice cross, could we see the back please?
The fairly sharp file marks on the front and sides make me think it isn't antique but a replica.

What is the point of Antiquers then?

 

Antiquers is great for guesstimating true age AJ.I'd think hands-on empirical scientific analysis conducted by a reputable accredited establishment would be the gold standard.
PS-Didn't mean to diminish the incredible collection of expertise, especially yours,we have assembled here-no offense was meant.

 

That is only relevant in some cases, not if a piece is a replica. And if it is an easily identifiable period piece you don't really need to go the expensive or near impossible route.
Remember, not everyone can spend thousands of dollars to have something ascertained, and it would be a great pity to throw that sort of money at a nice replica.

I'd say, give an item a chance here, and then see if we need a more hands on expertise.

 

the point of antiquers is that i now know it's modern.

 

Yes, it is, but I like it. It is a replica of a very nice cross, you don't often see the baptism of Christ on a cross.
Wait for the others, there is a good chance one of them will find the original for you.

 

I am trying to fathom whether the marks on the sides are directly from tools or passed on from whatever material it was cast in.

 

Possibly saw marks so maybe wood was used in the casting process and bronze has inherited these marks. Also files have been around for a long long time so the piece still could be quite old if a file was used.

It's certainly worth discussion on here though.

 

Old file marks on bronze or brass look worn, they wouldn't have such sharp edges.
Besides, a genuine antique cross with such well made and intricate scenes on it would by smoothly finished, it certainly wouldn't have so many file marks.

 

those are defently file marks, and 17th and 18th century pieces have the same file marks. here is one with only one side decorated but mine is decorated on both sides so that is rarer. https://www.1stdibs.com/furniture/m...tems/bronze-cross-18th-century/id-f_31571862/

 

thats not entirely correct see here a bronze religious plaque of the 15th/16th century and it has also rough file marks.

 

yes, but not the same file marks and the image is very crisp, not a sunken blob...

 

Those look a lot more like fret-saw tooth marks to me, AJ.
That cross was sawn from an oversized (or perhaps multi-image) casting I think...bicbw.

 

if it was a real old sacred item...that blob of metal on the right would never pass muster...... imo...

 

Ditto AJ- Get as much free trustworthy info as you possibly can,then if there's a good chance you an actual Byzantine,Medieval,etc-that could be worth a substantial sum-you might run it by an expert.
Then the question's who's a genuine expert & who isn't-I'm sure Sotheby's & Christies have experts yet have sold tons of really fine forgeries or 'enhanced' replicas.

 

that blob is a casting imperfection which was later also filed smooth. bronze casting in the 16th to the 18th century was not always done perfectly. these crosses where pure object for use and not for art works. At least that is my opinion. But as i understand from all the responese further investigation is needed and an expert eye on early bronze religious artefacts. THANKS for all the imput and info.