Heyo!
I'm back with a long-term project that I've been tinkering with for quite a while now...
A few years ago,
Mike J. started a thread partly to discuss the amulets, talismans, charms, and medallions seen in this image:
Some of the supplementary material on the DVDs for Guillermo del Toro's first Hellboy film are interactive "branching DVD comics" that were drawn by Mignola - this particular one is "Hellboy's Belt: The Talismans." Ten different images of items in/on the belt open up when you click on spots that light up on it. Strangely, the descriptions of the items differ a bit between the 2-disc Special Edition and the 3-disc Director's Cut Edition. Here are both versions of the descriptions:
I've always loved that main image, and I've always thought that it would be fun (though ambitious) to replicate all of the various items surrounding the gunbelt. Just a little over 2 years ago now, I decided to revisit this image and attempt to acquire as many of the pieces as possible, and then create the rest. It turns out that many of the objects in the illustration are actually old coins - a few of them were identified by
Mike J.,
The Schlitzie, and
youngpaddy1. Thanks guys! I also identified several more of them myself (though a couple are "best guess"). For a remaining few, I resorted to posting on a numismatic website forum to ask for help with possible IDs. Unfortunately, my post didn't seem to garner much interest, and I only ended up identifying one coin (maybe?), with the help of a tip. I was able to find replicas of many of the coins, and a few are actually the real deal (which were thankfully inexpensive).
So after many, many months of slowly chipping away at it, here's where I'm at with the project at this point, going counter-clockwise from left to right...
Widow's mite:
The "widow's mite" refers to either a Judean lepton or prutah. They're bronze coins from around the 1st Century BC, and were the lowest and smallest denominations of that era. They are tiny!
Athenian dekadrachm:
A Greek silver coin from the 5th Century BC. Real examples are rare, and are therefore quite expensive.
Irish pocket token?
Looking at this one, the only thing that I could see was a shamrock. I didn't find any old coins with anything that seemed similar, but I did find this "Irish pocket token":
It looked to me like in the drawing there might be a number one (or an i?) in the center, so I made a Roman numeral 1 out of a slice of styrene I beam, and added it to the token. I then molded it, so I could pour a casting in a low melting temp. tin/bismuth alloy:
While I was working on this one, it jogged a memory... in a very early appearance, Hellboy had a patch on the sleeve of his trenchcoat, which featured a club with a 1 in the center:
And then a bit later on, there was at least one instance of a small shamrock patch seen below the standard BPRD patch:
Byzantine follis:
A bronze coin of the eastern Roman Empire, first issued in 498 AD. The M is the Greek numeral for 40 (denoting a 40 nummi coin).
Egyptian ankh:
An obvious and easy one. What wasn't so easy was trying to find an example that was the same exact shape that Mignola drew - the subtleties of style and proportion are myriad. All of the examples that I ended up acquiring were sterling silver. Instead of going the expensive route of gold plating this one, I decided to just airbrush it with Tamiya Clear Yellow mixed with a few drops of Clear Orange. I then clear coated it with Alclad Aqua Gloss.
Saturn pendant:
The glyph is the ancient astronomical symbol for the planet Saturn (as well as the ancient alchemical symbol for lead). I made the pattern out of Ren Shape and styrene, molded it, and poured the final piece in the low-temp. tin/bismuth alloy:
The Great Revolt shekel:
A silver coin from the first Jewish revolt against the Romans (66 - 70 AD). The shekel that Mignola drew is dated to the 2nd year (the markings directly above the chalice). This example is dated to the 3rd year.
Silver temple token:
For this one, I originally ended up finding images of a nearly-exact real world example on an auction site, in a listing from many years ago - it was listed as a "13th Century Islamic silver coin." I initially had a friend do a digital model of it for me, based upon the auction images, and a colleague had recommended a company that offers 3D printing in wax, with final casting in various metals. I hadn't quite gotten around to that when I eventually ran across a similar piece on eBay - it was listed as an "Islamic religious token" and the seller was located in India. I subsequently discovered several examples that were referred to as "temple tokens," both "Islamic" and "Hindu," and they were apparently fashioned in the style of 16th Century Indian square rupees.
Xianfeng yuanbao:
A brass coin from Qing dynasty China during the reign of Emperor Xianfeng (1850 - 1861). Not sure if this example that I acquired is a "charm" (replica) or not - the prices on eBay varied quite a bit and I went for cheap. Also, this thing is enormous!
Abraxas pendant:
The figure of Abraxas was traditionally carved into stones/gemstones for use as a signet, as well as for use as amulets or charms. Yes, the example that I acquired has the figure facing the opposite direction. With its traditions as a signet, I believe that this would account for reference images of the design having both left and right facing figures (and any confusion about which way is "correct") - the carved stones would have a reversed/negative image, to create a positive image seal.
Eye of Providence?
This one also appears in this image, which was originally featured on the first Hellboy metal lunchbox, in 1999:
While on the tangent of the lunchbox art...
I identified the coin down on the lower left as possibly a Greek silver tetradrachm, from the mid-3rd Century BC. The portrait is of Alexander the Great and the "horn of Ammon" on the side of his head is what helped to ID it:
And there's another year 2 shekel up in the right corner.
But back to the eye...
Through sheer dumb luck, I happened upon this image while doing a web search for a different project:
As it turns out, the illustration is from the book
The Black Pullet, which was one of several books that surfaced at the end of the 18th century. These books were purported to be magical grimoires, containing ancient, hidden knowledge.
The Black Pullet contains illustrations of 20 talisman and ring pairs - this is pair number 11, and with the recitation of six particular words, they are supposed to
"transport you into whatever part of the world you judge appropriate without running any danger."
I acquired an écorché bust sculpture (an anatomical bust, showing the musculature of the human head and neck without the skin) and pulled a mold of the right eye with a blob of Knead-a-Mold silicone putty. I then made a resin casting of it, and modified that a bit by adding some Bondo and doing a little resculpting for the eyebrow. I created the rest of the amulet out of styrene and added the eye casting to it:
I then molded the finished pattern to produce a wax version for casting in bronze. I didn't make it into a ring though - had I not run across the illustration and investigated further, I would have had no idea that that's what it's actually supposed to be. I would've just made it into a simple flat-backed amulet, which is the plan that I stuck to: