What IS it?

I’ve wrestled with this for over a year now (see Michael’s Blog 01.29.21).

I still don’t have a clue.

I’m talking about the mystery object in the bottom left corner of the “Cat Boot” (MSID) mosaic above.

What the devil IS it?

“Cat Boot” is an iconic Montici mosaic, the crown jewel in our family’s personal collection. Richard Blow gave it to my mother in 1969. He may have told her what it was but, if so, none of us recall her ever mentioning it to us. So it’s both delighted and puzzled us for over a half-century. It’s a rare, early, signed, 1959 Fracassini. It’s also the second largest Montici mosaic in our Society database, measuring 18 x 14 inches. Add in the mystery symbol, and it’s truly unique.

Three of the objects in the mosaic are immediately recognizable – a fish, a cat of some sort (leopard?), and a snake.

A fourth object might be a woman’s Victorian-era, button-up boot.?

Richard Blow was born in 1904, just three years after the British monarch died. Victorian-era clothes and furniture undoubtedly graced his childhood so the boot showing up in a Montici is no surprise.

The fifth object is the frustrating mystery that gives the piece its additional cachet.

I started out thinking it might be the top half of a human figure, with arms raised, but eventually moved on to occult symbols, or a letter from some arcane alphabet.

Pursuing this theory, I’ve spent a dozen evenings digging through symbol dictionaries. I’ve looked for a match against horoscope signs; gender symbols; Western and Eastern religious symbols; mathematics symbols; Egyptian hieroglyphics; Nordic runes; Chinese and Japanese ideograms; the Phoenician alphabet; and wicca signs.

I only found two potential matches.

The first is the Viking rune for “Protection” (above). It has the basic shape, but I’ve never come across information suggesting Richard Blow had any interest in Norse mythology. I don’t find it convincing.

The second potential match is the Greek letter “Psi”

The Greek letter “Psi” (above) is used to spell the Greek word “psyche” which translates as “soul” or “consciousness.” The English words “psychology” and “psychic” are derived from this Greek word.

Could our Montici mystery symbol be the Greek letter “psi”?

This makes some sense.

Richard was an artist -- artists by nature exhibit and value intuition, inspiration.

Richard created a number of metaphysical and occult-themed mosaics.

So I can imagine a scenario where he tipped his hat to the artistic psyche by slipping in a “Psi” symbol.

After wracking my brain for two years, that’s the best I can come up with.

My sister Rosemary in Italy offers up one wild card for our consideration.

She recently visited the Southern Italian city of Matera. It’s one of the oldest human settlements in the world. People have been living there since the Paleolithic era..On the walls of a building dating to the 1700s, she came across an unusual stone decoration.

If you turn it upiade down, It is very close to Richard Blow’s mystery symbol.

Here’s a possible scenario: Richard lived in Italy for over two decades. He had the money, the time, and the artistic motivation to travel all around Itl;ay seeking inspiration for his Italian mosaics. He would have been drawn to Matera ‘s ancient history and culture. He roams the city, and stumbles across the same ancient building — and enigmatic carving — my sister chanced upon. He decides to add it to one of his Montici mosaics.

Certainly possible.

If so, we’re still left with a mystery. What IS it? A human half-figure?

The investigation continues….

POST SCRIPT 6/15/22

Rosemary just sent me another possible model for the enigmatic symbol. She found an Italian video featuring ancient Etruscan oil lamps from Volterra. One lamp in the video does indeed resemble the mysterious symbol on the Cat Boot mosaic. Rosemary has confirmed through her research that Richard Blow indeed visited the Etruscan tombs at least once while living in Italy We are trying to secure a photo of the lamp to include in this blog

POST SCRIPT 7/3/22

Hold everything. My sister Rosemary has found what we both believe finally solves the riddle of the mysterious object.

What IS it?

it’s a “fascinus” --an ubiquitous, good luck charm worn in ancient Rome to protect the wearer from the Evil Eye.

The famous amulet, worn around the neck, features a stylized phallus (fascinus), and a hand giving a rude gesture (mano fica). You can view examples of this superstitious pendant in many Italian history museums (as well as the Met in NYC).

From Michelangelo to Picasso, artists all through history played with erotic themes. We believe this was Richard Blow’s sophisticated, clever way to add a dash of Italian risqué to his mosaic art. The average American Montici buyer would miss the joke, but a cosmopolitan collector would smile in appreciation and snap it up.

Richard was no prude; he had a good sense of humor. Incorporating a fascinus amulet in his art wouldn’t be out of character for him. Blow lived in Italy most of his life; he was immersed in its history, customs, and folklore. Rude Latin hand gestures pop up in other Montici mosaics.

Take for instance the Nenci-signed Montici mosaic “Corno #1”. Anyone with a knowledge of Italian culture will immediately get this humorous, popular symbol for a cuckhold husband with an adulterous wife. A white moon hangs in the sky suggesting a night-time tryst.

Besides the close visual match, and Richard’s history of featuring hand gestures, Rosemary points to other clues in the artwork that suggest a superstitious amulet. According to symbology books, every one of the five elements in the overall composition has a potential occult interpretation. The cat is associated with witches and bad luck; the snake/serpent is associated with Satan in the biblical book of Genesis. Balanced against this duo of danger and negativity, the fish is considered holy, by ancient Egyptians, Babylonians, pagan Romans, and by Christians as an acrostic symbol for Jesus Christ himself. And that high-topped female boot? In Freudian symbolism the shoe is the symbol of the vagina while the foot symbolizes the penis. So we’re back to where we started -- the phallic “Roman amulet.

If we’re right, the” Cat Boot” Montici mosaic is ultimately an exceedingly clever assemblage of occult symbols, created by Richard in a humorous wink to the naughty side of human nature.

Un lavoro ben fatto!

Michael Schmicker