Cultural & Religious Items

This is a very old religious icon, showing the virgin BLACK Mary with a black Jesus. I believe the inside is gilded with gold and there are gem stones in the crowns above Mary and Jesus....not sure what they are though. The icon looks to me to be early 20th century or even late 19th century, going on the style of the frame. I got it from a Polish deceased who I think may have taken it from a Polish church during WWII (to save it of course). He served in the Polish army in WWII (I had his war medals and papers...all sold now) and came to Australia after. A Polish friend told me what the writing says, but I forgot, something about the love of Mary. The icon is 35 cms x 45 cms, and is in original condition with original wooden backing etc. It is a bit of a shadow box in that the picture looks like it is in a box. I have received an offer for $1000 already and I did not sell, so please no silly offers. My price is based on what religious icons sell for at specialized auction houses, like Southebys, Phillips and Christies. This is a one-off piece...you will never see anything like it again. Nearly forgot to say that Mary and child are depicted to be black because back then (when Jesus lived) Europeans thought they were black but they were just tanned. there is some minor damage to the platser on the frame here and there but nothing major. Overall in excellent condition for age.

This is an amazing item I have for auction here. It is a superb NATIVE necklace. I do not know the origin of this. I suspect it comes from Africa, but it may also come from Papua New Guinea, as it came from a deceased estate auction where the deceased had lots of native items from PNG, but he also had others, like from American Indians and the Polynesian islands.

The key points about this necklace are: It is very well made, and made of ebony (black) wood and brass. The brass is overlaid on top of the ebony, which means it has to be bent to that shape before fitting. The rest of the necklace is made of ebony. Even the little beads are ebony as well. Imagine the effort in making this stunning necklace.

The fact that it is so well made makes me think it had tribal significance, and that it may have belonged to an important person, like a witch-doctor or distinguished warrior or chief of sorts.

It is reasonably old, and not something that was just made. You can tell this from the wear on the brass.

I am not offering this as a fashion item, but it would look great on your neck as well...I have tried it on myself.

This is a stunning piece. I am amazed at the craftmanship in making this.

A fabulous antique brass crucifix with Jesus. It shows a considerable amount of age but I am unsure how old it actually is. Would come up nice with a polish if you are into doing that sort of thing. I prefer the age and patina as it is myself. The crucifix is about 35 cms tall, which is over one foot in old scale. In excellent aged condition.

This one stands about 29 cms tall.

A lovely vintage religious plaster with board depicting Madonna and child. It is in a lovely aged condition. It can be touched up if you want to restore it but I prefer it as it is. The board is approximately 38,5 cms high and 29,5 cms wide. Incidentally, it looks to have had some minor repairs to it but it does not detract from its beauty. The board looks to be a select piece of jarrah.