Pierced brass 'coasters'

Hello

I posted this set of six coasters here a few years ago but never really found out what they are, or where they are from. I'm hoping some of the newer members will take a look and help me out.

I know they are not coasters, but I needed to call them something. They are 10.7cm in diameter.

Thanks for looking.

 

Love them, Ratsy. Something architectural, vent hole cover or something? Not that I see anything to connect them to something else.
They look Orientalist.

 

They don't have the proper holes to be nailed or screwed down, and brass and water don't mix. They must be components of some sort and not meant to be seen from the back. I can see an artisan embedding them in clear resin and making paperweights or even coasters out of them.

 

I wonder. Pierced discs to sit in a bowl containing pot pourri?

 

I was contemplating covers for air vent holes, rather than for water drainage. But like you, I immediately saw there was nothing to fix them to a wall, as I said before.

This one does have a way of fixing it to a wall.

 

I think there might me four small holes for nails, at the 12, 3, 6 & 9 o'clock positions. Frustrating they're not more clearly from one country or another, they just appear 'vaguely oriental'.

 

I think you're right. If so from the position, these were meant to be nailed to something as decoration.