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#1 |
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: Rhineland
Posts: 364
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Dear All
I just acquired this wooden piece which measured 113 x 33cm and is pretty heavy (I donīt have a scale, but I guess around 20 Kg). It comes form Friesland but I think it also could be Flemish (or sth totally different). It seems to be pretty old. There are remains of rectangular nails and the depiction of the lion looks pretty old to me. It was later converted into a wardrobe, but after all I think it originally could have been a part from a 18th century carriage. I hope somebody can help to identify that piece. Any opinion appreciated Kind regards Andreas |
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#2 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Ann Arbor, MI
Posts: 5,503
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Nice!!! Great carving and beautiful patination.
Since you presumably do not have a carriage, it might serve just as a splendid wall hanging. Do you have a fireplace? BTW, there is something "Chinese" in this lion. |
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#3 |
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 147
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I think it's a Sinhala lion. Maybe there is some connection with Dutch Ceylon?
Then that piece is not younger than the end of the 18th century. Last edited by Saracen; 12th July 2021 at 10:18 PM. |
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#4 |
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Join Date: May 2014
Location: Rhineland
Posts: 364
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Thanks for your comments! Sadly I do not have a neither fireplace nor a horse wagon
![]() Thats a pretty interesting idea. I meanwhile found some similar examples, but the lions look different https://www.imago-images.com/st/0089458027 If the lion on the piece in discussion has a link to a dutch colony, that would make it an interesting piece of history |
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#5 |
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 147
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This link seems obvious to me. Some stylistic elements of this image of a lion have obvious traditional features, which can be seen, for example, on the pommel of the kastane sword. Probably the master or the customer of this work wanted to emphasize his connection with Ceylon.
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#6 | |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Russia, Moscow
Posts: 368
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I think that the answer may be suggested by studying the wood from which the carved part is made. If it is tropical wood, then there is a high probability that the carving was carried out in Ceylon (or another colony). If the wood is of European origin, then I doubt that it was exported for processing. |
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#7 |
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 147
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#8 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Russia, Moscow
Posts: 368
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I am not aware of the facts of the export of labor from the colonies to Europe before the 1st World War. But I cannot rule it out completely.
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#9 | |
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 147
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![]() Anytime. I do not think that the analysis of wood can give a reliable result, even if its origin is established. There are many explanations for the appearance of the Sinhala lion on a product made of European wood, for example, from the hands of a Dutch master who wanted to emphasize some of connection with Ceylon. His own or the customer's. |
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#10 |
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Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Russia, Moscow
Posts: 368
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Amazing things rarely happen. We both know how a little black boy from Abyssinia made an excellent career in military service in Russia - in the middle of the 18th century he was promoted to brigadier general.
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#11 |
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 147
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Such things happen more often, although this does not make them any less amazing.
Don't need to be a little black Ibrahim Petrovich ![]() The example of a "White Bedouin" seems to me more appropriate in the context of this discussion). |
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#12 |
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Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: NC, U.S.A.
Posts: 2,087
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I could believe Singhalese lion as well, as they were often stylized. here's my hanger presumably made in Ceylon ca.1660 for the Dutch market-
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#13 | |
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Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: CHRISTCHURCH NEW ZEALAND
Posts: 2,731
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![]() Quote:
Stu |
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#14 |
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 147
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Yes, of course. "White Bedouin" is the name of a statuette by Kathleen Scott, for which Lawrence of Arabia posed.
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