Old Primitive Vintage Metate Grain Grinding Stone Flat Mortar 17 1/2 lbs

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Old Primitive Vintage Metate Grain Grinding Stone Flat Mortar 17 1/2 lbs:
$231.50

So, I went to the sale of a lifetime this past weekend. A storage barn of an antiques dealer that passed about 10 years ago. She specialized in early primitives and American folk art and boy-oh-boy you do not want to miss this week. I took photos of the items that I bought for one full day, and still am not finished – but decided to go ahead and list what I have – enjoy!

There were two of these old stones at the sale. I knew nothing about them, but just by the look, the feel, the age, knew they were special - so I bought both of them. I sold the other which was smaller, so this is the last one that I have. I am calling it old vintage in my title, but I do believe that it is old enough to be antique - I just don\'t know enough about the piece to say for completely sure (gut says yes, though). It\'s a flat grinding stone - called a Metate, I have learned. A Metate is a flat slab of stone, this one with carved legs and a simple carved border decoration at the top. They were used to grind grain - the grain would be put on the stone and the pestle was a long cylinder shaped stone that you would roll back and forth to grind the grain. I don\'t have the pestle - just this gorgeous piece, and it\'s every bit of 17 1/2 lbs. I don\'t know what kind of stone it is, but it is a light tan, that almost takes on a faint rosey hue in some spots and in some lights. It measures 14 1/8" diameter across the circular portion of the top, and 16 1/4" long from the "handle" shape on the one end to the end of the other side. Look at the faded worn carving in that handle shape! It stands 2 3/8" tall at the sides on 3 carved feet. The top is inset from use (I\'m trying to show in my photos, but it\'s hard to see) so it\'s lower in the center than on the sides. The top is very very smooth - look at it in contrast to the roughness of the bottom that you see in photos 15 & 16. It is in excellent solid and STURDY condition. There\'s lots of wear to the stone - especially on the top, as I\'ve said above, and there\'s nicks, dings, divots, pits, light spots and dark spots too. I don\'t know aht the black spot is in photo 5, but you can also see other smaller ones on the piece. It looks like some type of soil - but I don\'t know if it will come off as I have not cleaned the piece. It\'s lightly dusty/dirty and could use a good cleaning - I don\'t mess with as found patina in any way.The top is smooth (with the wear noted above) and the bottom is rough, with lots of dips and divots that you can see. It sits very well and sturdy on the table with no wiggle or jiggle. This is a very special piece. I know, because of the weight, it will be expensive to ship to some locations, but it will be sooooo worth it!

Customer Satisfaction is extremely important to me. If you receive an item and are not satisfied in any way, please contact me before leaving response.

Please ask if you have any questions, or feel free to inform me if you have any information about one of my listings. As with any of my items, if you ever need extra photos, let me know.

I’m happy to combine shipments for you. If you win an item and plan to offer on another, please hold to pay for the first item and request a combined shipping invoice once you’ve won the other item/s. I do ask that there be no more than 7 days from the purchase of the first item – I will invoice after 7 days as I cannot hold the items longer than that. Please know that some items cannot be combined, though, do to size, weight, or safety of the items. Most items set to ship in USPS FLAT RATE boxes; I cannot combine due to size restrictions. Please look at the shipping alternatives in the listings. I only mail USPS and pack in the best manner that we feel safe – I cannot change shipment methods after the close of an sale (i.e. rolling an old map to save money when I have it set to ship flat), especially if I feel the requested method is not safe. Again, I only ship USPS and charge actual cost to ship only. I ship within one business day of receipt of your payment, unless there’s a holiday that closes the post office, or I will notify you otherwise. As I shop for treasures on the weekends, I most often do not ship on Saturday.

Many of my items come from local rural estate sales and sales. They are coming right from the barn or attic to you - dust, cobwebs and all! I do not clean and polish before I sell – they are in the condition found, as you see in my photos, and I leave the patina exactly as it was when I bought the item. I do my best to photo and describe all thoroughly.

Please email me before offerding if you do not use PayPal, and we can discuss possible payment alternatives. Payment is due within 3 business days after close of sale.

With postage rates increasing regularly, I am shipping more and more items Parcel Select. Parcel Select travels by land or rail and the packages do not leave the regional post office until they fill up a bin going in the same direction (so the estimated delivery is truly only an estimate – not exact). The post office estimates 5-7 days, but it can go up higher, sometimes even 3-4 weeks in peak mailing times like the holidays. I always provide a tracking number, so you can see where your item is on any day.

Sales tax will be added for Illinois buyers.

…and thanks so much for looking, I appreciate having you as a customer!