What is this ancient tribal sculpture and why do we own 2 of them? Well, first of all it's not any kind of sculpture although maybe the antique road show could tell me otherwise, and the story behind why we have it is a bit complicated.
You see, my husband is obsessed with what things are made out of. He will size something up according to what the material make up of the item is valued at. For example my friend found a fire place mantel at a yard sale and when she brought it home and told her husband how much she had spent he thought it was a ridiculous investment. So J stepped in and said he thought that it was worth it. She thanked him for validating her purchase, but then he went on to say the mantel wasn't that nice, but he thought she could get that much for the wood. Of course selling it for wood was not what she had in mind, thanks anyway!
Anything that is REAL wood, REAL metal, or REAL anything gets two thumbs up from J. When we were shopping for fixtures for our bathroom J went through Home Depot thumping each faucet one by one like he was trying to find a good melon. I guess he could tell whether or not something was cheap by how it resonated when he thumped it.
One thing that makes my husband and I such a great pair is that neither of us are too proud to pick stuff up off the side of the road. Just last week we took our neighbors lawn chairs off the curb because she was getting rid of them and I have lots of stories like this. I don't just get any piece of garbage though, it has to be something that I could use. So, when J found these two extremely heavy metal pieces I had to ask "Why are you taking those?! What the heck are they?"
His response "I don't know, but it's perfectly good iron and I am keeping it."
That was several years ago. The iron collection now sits in our unfinished gas fireplace because we decided that they are supposed to hold fire wood. If you know what they are please tell me and confirm if our speculations are right. Or better yet if you can think of your own creative use for them then let me know. This could mean that they might possibly migrate out of our living room. Until then we have yet again, another conversation piece, which fits my personality better than "we got it from Ikea."
3 comments:
I think it's boot scrapers. That would mean they go to the back door. I think they look good there though. Visual interest.
N.L.W.
You guys are right, they're called firedogs. The little curled-up part goes in the front, to keep the logs from tumbling off.
Cool find! I love getting stuff off the curb. Sadly my neighbors don't seem to throw away things I want.
Yeah Becky. It's even better knowing the official name. Thanks!
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