I found the pictured brass pieces a year ago in a Goodwill. It’s about 7.5″ high and 7″ in diameter at the widest point. The brass is a thin sheet in most places, shaped around the weighted base. The piece connecting the base to the tray and the top finial appear to be cast brass. The “tray” has an elaborate bass relief depicting three bearded men’s heads with halos, garlands between the heads. There are no marks on it (country or origin/hallmarks etc.) My guess was a piece used in a religious ceremony b/c of the 3 heads (the trinitiy?). The tray would work for the host but why a candle holder or toothpick holder at the top? Perhaps an altar piece with a different purpose. I really don’t know.
Well you got me motivated to polish up the bottom and get a good look. At first I swore I could see hand made scratches, perhaps forming Greek, Cyrillic, or Hebrew letters, but the longer I looked, the more I had to conclude that the scratches may have been from use. I just couldn’t see a pattern to them.
Sorry for the fuzzy pictures. The finial is about 3″ long. The top half is a holder made of 3 “leaves” but the leaves are solid cast brass and not meant to be bent to hold something. The attachment to the main tray is a bolt sticking out of the bottom of the finial; the finial does not bend at all. [Now I can’t figure out how to add pictures to this paragraph].
