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Love you hear your thoughts on this piece. I picked this cool tile mosaic of St. Michael from an online auction. I’ve kind of figured out what it is, a tile mosaic of St. Michael with the dragon/Satan missing, but having a hard time determining whether it is contemporary of really old. Tiles are overall in great shape except for the top. Very heavy and measures 24″ x 37″. Unfortunately, the previous owner passed without leaving any information behind. He was a horder and the apartment I picked it up from was literally jammed wall-to-wall with only pathways to get through. I’m at a loss as to where to start with pricing.
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The mounting wood is plywood, so not ancient. Wikipedia says plywood started being used in the late 1800’s, but this doesn’t look that old. I was told that it fell off the wall once and broke into pieces and had to be repaired, so not sure if the backing was changed at that time or not. None of the tiles have signs of damage except those at the top.
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There’s this Lichfield angel which the British Museum say is Gabriel. The tile mosaic looks to me like it’s based on an Anglo-Saxon original, like the Lindisfarne or St Chad Gospels. Actually I’d have thought it would have been based on the Book of Kells, being as there’s an Irish-US connection, but it doesn’t look Celtic in style. Also the dress looks like a Roman soldier’s; the kilt seems to have scales.
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I think he’s wearing armor perhaps like this image:
It is also possible that it was intended to be St. George, though he seems to have only rarely been depicted with wings.
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It’s not St George, as he was a Roman soldier not an angel. Also he’s often shown on a horse, fighting a winged dragon, so if he had wings it would look weird.
That picture must be of St Lucy, patron saint of eye problems. 🙂
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To my eye it looks relatively modern. I would guess anywhere from 1930s to 1960s. Can’t put a finger on why exactly. I’m not an art history expert though so take it with a grain of salt. Something about the broad brush background schmearing looks like it’s conveying age rather than being truly old. Also certain parts being made with full coils instead of mosaic pieces and the general look of the frame.
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Yes, the style of the figure is Dark Ages/early Medieval; I’ve got a feeling that if it were shown to a scholar of the religious art of the period they’d be able to identify the original it’s based on.
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@antiquefrog – hmmm, maybe I’ll send it to Someone at one of the local universities.
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