I acquired these really neat old Art Nouveau era altar pieces or lamp bases a few years ago from an estate, intending to convert them to electric lamps, but never seeming to have the time. They are very ornate and unusual, even a smidge on the eerie side, but in the charming kind-of-way! They have been sitting atop my mantle all this time, and I finally decided that they look great just the way they are. Now I have decided to add them to Picklemoose's Closet, my Ebay store. The great thing about buying & selling antiques is: a)you are always learning about history- peoples' personal histories, and history of the area, history of a house, history of a knick knack, history of a family, or a town. That always fascinates me. b)It satiates my retail therapy needs, and makes a little extra money some of the time. c)I have the opportunity to decorate my house with all sorts of amazing and unusual curiosities, and they get rotated out fairly frequently. These lamp bases or altar pieces have been a really fun and unique addition to my personal collection. I have searched high and low, but I am stumped as to the origin. I know the estate, but they were in that family for a few generations, so the family wasn't even sure. I can nail the date down to late 1800's or early 1900's. I have never seen any quite like this before. I am known for being stubborn, so I will just keep looking until I can figure out the specifics. Here is the link to the auction at my Ebay store with lots of pics: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280805944425&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT And the link to Picklemoose's Closet Facebook page with the pics: https://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=110400059067150&sk=picture#!/media/set/?set=a.110400845733738.17269.110400059067150&type=1 I would love your comments if you know anything more about them. Have a pleasant evening, and happy antiqueing! -Anastasia