Late 18th / Early 19th Century Carvings of a Pharaoh

Whimsical Carving of a Dwarf with Snuffbox, 19th Century A 19th century funny carved and painted dwarf with snuffbox. Unrestored original condition, old wormholes, partly paintloss ...

A lovely angel, his right hand extended as if to touch something or hold something. He appears very calm and peaceful, clothed in a partial shroud which is draped over his shoulder...

Unique, whimsical and original sculpture made from antique gilded carvings and vintage Murano glass. This particular fish is shown with a heavy eyebrow and murano teeth! One of two r...

Figural wooden carving of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Immaculate Conception). Carved in folkloric style, this well-preserved statue retains its original coat of polychrome paint. Its flesh tones, light-blue, and silver-gilding vividly shine through a natural patina that has become glossy from a century’s worth of handling. The Virgin as the "Immaculata" (conceived in immaculate purity), is posed on the globe of the world, in triumph over sin, represented by the serpent that tempted Eve with a forbidden apple. The sculpture's facial features include glass eyes and eyelashes. This rare antique sculpture is perfect for a collection of sacred antique...

This striking brass plaque depicts Virabhadra, a personification of the god Shiva, created by him to fight in his quarrel with Daksha. Here with 4 arms and hands, Virabhadra holds a ...

Sweet little Black Forest carving of a stag standing near a pine tree next to a brass lined nut or candy dish. Some writing bottom front in white is too worn for me to make out, prob...

Early 19th century carved lion figure An early 19th century hand carved Italian or Spanish representation of a seated lion figure. Anthropomorphism features which are typical of this period. Polychrome paint still visible across its surface with aged repairs and wear as expected, the gesso is visible in sections. Visible ribcage typical of the regions, the possibility this figure could have been part of a larger carved piece of décor furnishing or architecture display...

A carved and painted wood 'TURKOMANIA' sculpture of an ottoman soldier French or Dutch Turkomania, early 19th century Depicted in standing position, with a sword in one hand and a club in the raised other, with a fur hat, long moustache and long coat, on a square base. Measures: H. 58 cm Note: During the Dutch War of Independence from 1568 till 1648, the Dutch and Turks were allies against Roman Catholic Spain and the slogan of the Dutch was “liever Turks dan Paaps” (rather Muslim than Roman Catholic). In 1612 the first Dutch ambassador arrived in Istanbul. Nevertheless, in Holland, there was also the image of the cruel and heretic Turk stemming from the frequent violent clashes between Dutch ships and the pirates from Algiers, usually called the “Turkish pirates”. When the Ottoman armies advanced against Vienna, in the eyes of many Europeans the Islam bent on destroying Christianity. Later in the early 19th century, although the Turkish threat to Europe was long gone, the image of the Turks deteriorated again because of the Greek uprising. The Sultan Mahmud II understood that Turkey had to modernize along West European lines and among other things in 1808 he replaced the “picturesque” oriental clothing...

A large carved and polychrome painted tobacconist's figure almost certainly 17th or early 18th century For a related example see Edward H. Pinto, Treen and other Wooden Bygones, Bell and Hyman, London 1969. Page 412, plate 436. Originally this may well have been a tobacconist's shop window figure. For a similar, but slightly earlier unpainted example, see Sotheby's, The W. J. Shepherd collection of treen, 30th November 1983, Lot 393, illustrated in Pinto "Wooden Bygones of Smoking and Snuff Taking", plate 1. Carved wooden figures, often painted, were placed outside tobacconist's shops as signs from the 17th century onwards. The earliest of these figures is the 'black boy' or 'blackamoor'. 'At the sign of the black boy' or 'at the sign of the blackamoor' was a popular address for tobacconists since the early 17th century. The 17th century figures...

Originally gilded. as notice some traces of gilt residue. From the collection of Verna Harrah. Harra's Casinos.