Frisian or Flemish wooden part of a carriage?
 

Dear All

I just acquired this wooden piece which measured 113 x 33cm and is pretty heavy (I don´t 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

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.

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.

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

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.

This is a beautiful version!
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.

Why do you exclude the work of a master who was taken out of the colony in the metropole? Only some elements have Ceylon shades, the overall composition is Dutch.

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.

You wouldn't say that people couldn't just travel, would you? :)
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.

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.

Such things happen more often, although this does not make them any less amazing.
Don't need to be a little black Ibrahim Petrovich :) to keep in touch with the culture of a foreign country that has become close and surround yourself with objects of this culture after returning to your homeland.
The example of a "White Bedouin" seems to me more appropriate in the context of this discussion).

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-

Your subject photo is of course T.E.Lawrence.....Lawrence of Arabia.
Stu

Yes, of course. "White Bedouin" is the name of a statuette by Kathleen Scott, for which Lawrence of Arabia posed.