Need Help Identifying

[tbell]

My father found this during WWII in a bombed out town in France. Does anyone know what this item is?
Thank You!!

[Forino]

How big is it? Could you post a picture of the back?

[Howey01]

It kind of looks like a religous metal guessing. Howard

[tbell]

its about 4inch by 2.5 picture comeing later.

[trina157]

You will have to translate the page (google) but it has some useful information. But definitely the same image depiction of the virgin Mary. Couldn't find any indication of the age of this item though.

http://www.basiliquemarienthal.fr/ht...elerinage.html

[emfederin]

What's the name following "notre dame de"?

[tbell]

Norte Dame de Martenthal.its about the size of a large belt buckel.

[emfederin]

Originally Posted by tbell

Norte Dame de Martenthal

It's an "i", actually. Spelling counts when you're trying to research things.

Unfortunately, I can't read french. If you know somebody who can, you'll get about 400 hits if you google:

"notre dame de marienthal"

Include the quotes.

FWIW, babelfish translates "notre dame de marienthal" as "our lady of marienthal".

It's a nice looking piece. The background appears to be mother of pearl, and very well made.
I don't know if those french sites will get you any closer to identifying it, but it's a start at least.

It might also help to give us some pictures of the back, and also a clear closeup of the area circled in blue. And those circled in red, are they hinges of some kind? A clear closeup there might help, too.

[emfederin]

PS: It appears that Trina beat me by a longshot to the "marienthal" part, and is more specific in her direction for you. Good work, Trina!

This whole "churchy" thing begs a brilliant idea, though: Why don't you just ask a Catholic priest in your area if he knows what it is?

[trina157]

thanks em, took alot of googling!


------------------"This whole "churchy" thing begs a brilliant idea, though: Why don't you just ask a Catholic priest in your area"--------------------------

Super idea! I wonder if you need an appointment for that kind of thing? Would they charge??

I am.....Clergy clueless

[Burien]

Looks to be part of the lock on a book box. Marienthal is a small town in todays Luxembourg. I did not know they had a Site for Mary there....

[emfederin]

Originally Posted by trina157

thanks em, took alot of googling!
------------------"This whole "churchy" thing begs a brilliant idea, though: Why don't you just ask a Catholic priest in your area"--------------------------
Super idea! I wonder if you need an appointment for that kind of thing? Would they charge??
I am.....Clergy clueless

Nah, priests are just plain folk. They just dress funny.

Seriously though, priests are just like you and me when it comes to interesting "stuff", and they enjoy pleasant chats. And also like you and me, if they have particular knowledge of something, they're very happy to share.

There's no obligation in such an informal encounter to charge anyone for anything. OTOH, there's nothing stopping anyone from dropping a dollar or 2 in the box on the way out, either.

[Dbodamer]

I just clicked on that website link that Trina157 attached and hit google translate. It has a STORE where you can buy:

- A Wide choice of religious objects.
- Religious Books for all ages.
- Tapes, CDs, videos, and DVD's.


I'm guessing that is where it is from, but who knows how old it is

[emfederin]

Originally Posted by Dbodamer

I just clicked on that website link that Trina157 attached and hit google translate. It has a STORE where you can buy:
- A Wide choice of religious objects.
- Religious Books for all ages.
- Tapes, CDs, videos, and DVD's.
I'm guessing that is where it is from, but who knows how old it is

And I'll bet they were having some really great clearance sales after the bombings...

[tbell]

I have looked all over the net and found nothing,thanks everbody for thier help.in a box with this thing were some smooth stones about the size of bird eggs .

[Jakk]

http://www.worldlingo.com/en/website...ranslator.html

That's a website translator. Use it to translate this webpage from french to english and you can learn the history of the church that has the statue shown on that item.

http://www.basiliquemarienthal.fr/html/histoire_.html

It looks like trina beat me to that site. Lol