Help - What is this?

[RENSHAW]

Okay , so it is not Camino related but I'm pretty sure is has Christian overtones and also with all the knowledge out there ....................... ??
I love to dabble in collectables - This piece is slightly larger than a teaspoon but it weighs in at a hefty 62.6g.
I can write with it like a hard pencil suggesting that it could be solid silver? There is no visible corrosion but for pitting.
It seem very old?
What I have noticed: A winged angel
Serpents or snakes below the angel
The inscription jnc?
A large twirled snake at the bottom?
I found it among kitchenware - could it be a medicinal grinder for medicinal remedies?

 

[Bradypus]

Not 100% sure but it may be an aspergillum - used for sprinkling holy water. They come in all sorts of designs. The "ihc" on the handle is quite a common contraction of the Greek for "Christ".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christogram

 

[RENSHAW]

Not 100% sure but it may be an aspergillum - used for sprinkling holy water. They come in all sorts of designs. The "ihc" on the handle is quite a common contraction of the Greek for "Christ".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christogram

Thanx , I that was one of my first thoughts too.

 

[Purple Backpack]

Could it be used for mixing water and wine? Perhaps that explains the pitting? I've looked online and can find nothing remotely like this but there were apothecary tools from the US colonial period with a similar bottom, no angel head.

The angel head resembles the same angel with attached wings found in 17th century cemeteries.

Could be used to stir a mean martini today.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

I think it may be a yad, a pointer for keeping your place while you're reading the daily Torah portion aloud in temple. They're often heavy and decorated, expensive gifts for Bar Mitzvahs. My Hebrew is way out of date, perhaps those are initials of the Bar Mitzvah, or the rabbi who used it. Take it down to your local Judaica store and ask them what they think.

 

[Bradypus]

I think it may be a yad, a pointer for keeping your place while you're reading the daily Torah portion aloud in temple.

Don't think so @Rebekah Scott . The bulbous end would obscure the text - a yad usually has a very long tapering point, often shaped like a finger. Also Jewish religious art generally avoids depictions of the human face, especially in sculptural forms, and I don't think anyone would put one on a yad which is so closely associated with the Torah.