Posted 12 years ago
ho2cultcha
(5042 items)
I bought this today from a man who got it from an old man who owed him for a favor. According to the guy i bought it from, the old man was a professional 'treasure-hunter' and a scientist [oceanographer?]. The letter is in old spanish. I'm very fluent in spanish [equal to my english], but i am having a difficult time deciphering the letters and words in this. these two documents were inside the locket along with another two which i'll post photos of tomorrow. I'd appreciate any help i can get in reading them. Thanks!
i have more / better photos of it along w/ the other contents here: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjBvAxfb
very pretty
one person suggested that the writing is italian, not spanish. i have no idea. ??
it's definitely spanish, but i can't read much of it. i'm not very good at deciphering illegible handwriting.
i found a similar one which was called a spanish colonial reliquary. it wasn't nearly as interesting as this one [imho!], but at least i have another name to explore.
i just added a picture of the painting on the other side along w/ a tiny little relict inside it - a teeny painting.
i finally solved this mystery. this is an extra fine and old, very large, spanish colonial reliquary. these were often carried by nuns and priests, but also some regular folks. i found lots of them online, but this is one of the finest i could find amongst them and the double-sided eglomise ones sell for around $500. they don't usually have so much stuff or 'relicts' in them as this one does. i think i'm going to put it all back inside and seal it w/ wax - which is the way they usually are kept.
recently, a woman from Spain who studies old religious writing wrote to me after seeing my photos of this on Flickr. She said that it is an early 19th century piece which belonged to one of the original Spanish settlers of California [or their grandson]. according to the writing, he was very ashamed because he got a girl pregnant out of wedlock and the writing is very unusual and that this reliquary is one of the most unique that she's seen. she also said that the painting on it was exquisite and one of the best. she said that it is a very valuable piece of early california history. interesting!
hahaha i don,t want to known the origin ( secularisation Act ) (cultural heritage) looks like Spanish gold , eglomise, very nice
and the value is very much more ,, then mentioned in the entry, and i don,t want to discuss this,
i agree it is a hell of a masterpiece but is Saint Christopher unique ?, this is of such
a breathtaking quality