Ok, this sounds like an extremely stupid problem.
I have an object that isn’t appearing in the render.
It’s not material settings – I added a new default material, and still it doesn’t render.
It’s not lighting – I have AO and some spot lamps.
It’s not world settings – I appended the object into a new file.
It’s not camera settings – the clipping distance is 5000.
What could it be??? ( I probably missed something obvious)
Thank you for your help!
EDIT*****************************************
of course, I look and look for half an hour, then I post, then I find the problem. Sorry. (Dupliverts was on.)