http://homepage.ntlworld.com:80/richards_internet/MISC/PENDULUM.html

Don't know what it is.

Found metal detecting.

"Rich" wrote:
>
> Don't know what it is.
>
> Found metal detecting.

It could very well be a clock pendulum, as you said.  Does the hole go all
the way through from one side to the other?

Joe

"Joe Roberts" <cdex3_at_comcast.net> wrote in message 
news:p8qdnSsO2LP7CLbVnZ2dnUVZ_q7inZ2d@comcast.com...
>
> "Rich" wrote:
>>
>> Don't know what it is.
>>
>> Found metal detecting.
>
> It could very well be a clock pendulum, as you said.  Does the hole go 
> all
> the way through from one side to the other?
>
> Joe

Yes it does.

Folks on alt.horology trying to identify it as well.

Rich

Beautiful artifact!

The image is of the typical directions of a map or compass.   To me it first 
appears nautical.   Pendulums were typically adjustable in length by a nut 
on the shaft below the weight, so the glass pip in the hole would be 
problematic.   Further, a pendulum weight would minimize width and maximize 
height to reduce the arch and keep the box narrower.  The hole is 90 degrees 
off for that use.   Even the clock's chain weight would have been oriented 
to the narrower.   Further, a pendulum's period is affected solely by 
length, unaffected by the mass, so the small holes on the face would have no 
effect or purpose.    The glass also discounts the weight being strung on a 
rope with others as a convenient way to transport lead as a commodity.  This 
was hard to discount, as the two small holes drilled in the face do appear 
to be an effort to create a conformed weight after casting.     I tried to 
envision it as the weighted end of an astrolabe's pointer, but the glass, 
again, would be inappropriate and the small holes unnecessary.     It would 
be an appropriate material. size and motif for a map paperweight, but 
adjusted for mass and on a glass wand?    A scale's counterweight would 
account for the small holes, but the glass is the spoiler,

Thanks for the puzzle.

Greybeard

"Greybeard"  wrote in message 
news:Qq7Yj.16683$_g.7806@trnddc07...
> Beautiful artifact!
>
> The image is of the typical directions of a map or compass.   To me it 
> first appears nautical.   Pendulums were typically adjustable in 
> length by a nut on the shaft below the weight, so the glass pip in the 
> hole would be problematic.   Further, a pendulum weight would minimize 
> width and maximize height to reduce the arch and keep the box 
> narrower.  The hole is 90 degrees off for that use.   Even the clock's 
> chain weight would have been oriented to the narrower.   Further, a 
> pendulum's period is affected solely by length, unaffected by the 
> mass, so the small holes on the face would have no effect or purpose. 
> The glass also discounts the weight being strung on a rope with others 
> as a convenient way to transport lead as a commodity.  This was hard 
> to discount, as the two small holes drilled in the face do appear to 
> be an effort to create a conformed weight after casting.     I tried 
> to envision it as the weighted end of an astrolabe's pointer, but the 
> glass, again, would be inappropriate and the small holes unnecessary. 
> It would be an appropriate material. size and motif for a map 
> paperweight, but adjusted for mass and on a glass wand?    A scale's 
> counterweight would account for the small holes, but the glass is the 
> spoiler,
>
> Thanks for the puzzle.
>
> Greybeard

What about a plum bob?

> What about a plum bob?-

No thanks, not that partial to fruit... LOL (sorry)

Jim Bob

I envision even an ancient plumb-bob owned by ancient builders like the 
Greeks and Egyptians as still being shaped like an old fashion tear-drop 
fishing weight, bottom heavy to stabilize the mass on a string, and very 
pointed to provide a precise center-of-mass reference to the ground.   The 
shape of this artifact would be unstable on a string.  It would only be 
stable if the glass were a long rod with the weighted lead fob near one end. 
Definitely not a practical combination for a field surveyor to carry.

The glass is the main clue and the main problem, as every common adaption of 
the weight as a moving part becomes too fragile when attached to or tipped 
by glass.   It would need to have a static, non-moving function to be 
practical, and then possibly as decoration, given the artistic relief.

Lead stoppers in glass bottles were common, and if the artifact were 
attached to a glass stopper for a small bottle, used to hold the stopper 
down tightly to keep a liquid sealed, that would work.  The small 1" size 
would act well as a finger grip for a small diameter stopper.   But drop it 
once and the lead would pound the glass stopper into fragments.

Are we having fun, yet?

Greybeard




"Jim Sewell"  wrote in message 
news:70cbdf82-cb5b-44d0-b66f-2dd9d831206f@f36g2000hsa.googlegroups.com...
>> What about a plum bob?-
>
> No thanks, not that partial to fruit... LOL (sorry)
>
> Jim Bob

Does anyone know -- was the glass part found with the metal?  If so, is it
intact and can we see a photograph of it?

Joe

"Joe Roberts" <cdex3_at_comcast.net> wrote in message 
news:DcidnYkU1qKvhqXVnZ2dnUVZ_jydnZ2d@comcast.com...
> Does anyone know -- was the glass part found with the metal?  If so, 
> is it
> intact and can we see a photograph of it?
>
> Joe
>


There was a piece of glass in one end of the hole. The glass bit was 
taken out and lost.