Brass Lion Door Knocker ID Help Please

[woodbriar21]

Length- 4 1/2"

[argon38]

It looks like it might have been custom designed for a particular homeowner, which would make it a one-off item and very difficult to identify. Possibly "Aold" = "Arnold"?

[argon38]

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@argon38 wrote:

It looks like it might have been custom designed for a particular homeowner

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Having said that, though, the casting looks pretty rough - not the sort of quality you might expect for a special order. So perhaps it was mass-produced, after all.

[maxine*j]

I found another one that sold on eBay some time ago.  Unfortunately, most of the photos are gone from it.  Whether or not the seller's descripition is accurate, I cannot say.  That is, I don't know if it's Victorian in age or just in style.

https://picclick.co.uk/Antique-Victorian-Solid-Brass-Thistle-Lion-Rampant-Door-263044692263.html

I found it with a quick image search on "lion and thistle door knocker," so more searches along that line, with those words, might yield results.

[maxine*j]

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@argon38 wrote:

...  Possibly "Aold" = "Arnold"?

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The last bit looks like "For," and I wondered if that could be "Forge" abbreviated...?

[argon38]

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@maxine*j wrote:

I found another one that sold on eBay some time ago. 

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Good find. Not unique, then!

[maxine*j]

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@argon38 wrote:

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@maxine*j wrote:

I found another one that sold on eBay some time ago. 

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Good find. Not unique, then!

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Not unique, which would make sense given the quality.  With the lion and thistle design, the fact that seller was in Scotland makes me think the piece was probably authentic.

I kthink OP's piece is an original, too, and not an Asian repro, because of the maker's marking.  It's true that the Chinese repros sometimes copy even that but, somehow, I don't think that's the case here. 

[argon38]

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@maxine*j wrote:

I kthink OP's piece is an original, too, and not an Asian repro, because of the maker's marking.  It's true that the Chinese repros sometimes copy even that but, somehow, I don't think that's the case here. 

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I can't help thinking the one in your link looks more convincingly authentic than the OP's.

[argon38]

I hope the eBay seller will forgive this, but it's for research purposes:

[maxine*j]

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@argon38 wrote:

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@maxine*j wrote:

I kthink OP's piece is an original, too, and not an Asian repro, because of the maker's marking.  It's true that the Chinese repros sometimes copy even that but, somehow, I don't think that's the case here. 

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I can't help thinking the one in your link looks more convincingly authentic than the OP's.

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I see why you say that and, as I said, I'm going only by the presence of the marks and they way they look -- but I may well be wrong.

[sonomabarn67]

Could it be saying... Rd A Old For (ge). With the ge where that hole is now?

Isn't Rd an English term for registered design? in the late Victorian era...

People do atrocious things to metal antiques when cleaning them, like letting then sit in paint stripper for days or leaving them to sit in lye, wire brushing, etc which might explain the surface on this knocker.

[maxine*j]

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@sonomabarn67 wrote:

Could it be saying... Rd A Old For (ge). With the ge where that hole is now?

Isn't Rd an English term for registered design? in the late Victorian era...

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Yes, but if I'm reading this correctly it should be RD (both letters upper case) followed by a number (like patent numbers in the U.S.):

https://www.bl.uk/business-and-ip-centre/articles/what-are-registered-designs

You're right about the insults and abuses to old metal pieces.  😢

[sonomabarn67]

I've always read it as Rd but maybe it is RD and they cast it as R(smaller D). Argon?

[lacemaker3]

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@sonomabarn67 wrote:

I've always read it as Rd but maybe it is RD and they cast it as R(smaller D). Argon?

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I agree. I see it as: 

[maxine*j]

OK.  But, still, there should be a number if the RD stands for registered design.  Or at least that's how I read it.  As I said, an interesting idea, though.  Certainly not all U.S. patented items carry the number but often say only "Pat'd."