Hand-Carved Sculptures and Carvings

Set Of 5 ceiling bricks by Estudio Rafael Freyre. Dimensions: W 15 D 30 x H 30 cm. Materials: andes stones. Also available: other finishes available. The brick is a generic con...

As the embodiment of compassion, Guanyin is the most beloved enlightened being in China. Known as the Goddess of Mercy, she is the female bodhisattva form taken by Avalokitesvara in eastern Buddhism and is instantly available to all who call upon her with their mind. Though commonly depicted as a woman in Chinese statuary...

Rustic Thai ox cart wooden wheel with stand. Age: Thailand, 19th Century Size: Diameter 58 C.M. / Thickness 4.7 C.M. Size including stand: Height...

A beautiful pair of large vintage Chinese hand carved wood foo dogs painted a deep red with a heavy gold gilt, circa 1960s. The dogs (or lions) are in...

These are early 20th century carved panels from Timor Island, they have been hand carved and feature a mix of human and animal figures. They also feature ceremonial tribal designs on...

Fun collection of six Japanese netsukes made of variety of different materials including: wood, resin bone and a toggle nut, circa 20th century. There...

Burmese wood carving with stand. Age: Burma, Mandalay Period, 19th Century Size: Width 25 C.M. / Length 56.5 C.M. Size including stand: Heigh...

A LARGE WOOD FIGURE OF GUANYIN WITH TRACES OF PIGMENTS MING DYNASTY (1368-1644) The bodhisattva is shown seated in padmasana, wearing long flowing ro...

Mutton Fat jade amulet carving on elaborate hardwood stand - the hand carved jade with pierced scrolling vines and solid base and central column - the ...

Vintage hand carved brown / amber jadeite dragon amulet - China - mid / late 20th century. Excellent vintage condition - no loss - no damage - no res...

Burmese wooden crowned Buddha with gilded gold or sometimes known as 'King Buddha's, wearing diadem-crowns and ornaments of kings instead of ordinary monk...

A large vintage Chinese red cinnabar box with deep relief carved lid depicting peonies, trees and a landscape with a palace. The round box has...

This magnificent Chinese antique wood carved Happy Buddha statuary has very detailed hand carving works on it. It is all hand made and hand...

A well carved Chinese Lapis Lazuli figure of a duck with a Lotus flower probably dating from the latter 19th or early 20th century. The figure is h...

Vintage Taj Mahal white marble hand-crafted collectible architectural miniature model. Handmade replica or miniature of the original Taj Mahal situated in India and popularly known as symbol of love. A finely Taj Mahal replica hand-made from white marble stone. This Taj Mahal replica is true form of fine Art produced by renowned craftsman based out in Agra (India), whose forefathers were the ones employed by the Shah Jahan...

An attractive and esoteric Japanese carved and gilt wood figure of Fukukenjaku Kannon, Amoghapasa, Meiji period or earlier, Japan. Fukukenjaku Kannon is portrayed in an usual six...

Passing through these impressive posts, a visitor to a Qing-dynasty estate would know he was entering someplace special. Used in a traditional courtyard entry to secure the doors as they swung open, these hand-carved posts are nonetheless ripe with symbolism. Double dragon medallions...

Chinese wooden monkey with gilded gold. Age: China, Qing Dynasty, 19th Century Size: height 33.5 cm / width 8.3 cm / thickness 10.8 cm. Size including s...

Japanese bronze animal dog. Age: Japan, Showa Period, 20th Century Size: Height 14.5 C.M. / Width 4.8 C.M. / Length 14.5 C.M. Condition: Nice ...

An antique Thai wood carving. Carved from a tree trunk hollowed in its center, this drum pedestal will add texture and interest to any scape. It will...

A fine example of a hand carved solid wood Oriental Buddha head, in overall good condition, hand painted and the top ornament made of bronze. Mounted on decorative genuine coral...

A fantastic wood and gilt decorated hand carved Chinese ancestral temple shrine Emperor figure with a tiger. From a collection of Chinese and Asian artifacts...

This temple roof final is from the Isan region of Northern Thailand. Hand carved from teakwood into the shape of a chofa, it was used as an architectural...

Chinese wood carving with stand Age: China, 19th Century Size: Height 22.5 / Width 50.8 C.M. / Thickness 5.7 C.M. Size including stand: Height...

These finely carved pair of Indian dolls are known as Marapachi Bommais, which literally translates to ‘wooden dolls’. Marapachi Bommais dolls are an important part of South Indian culture and rituals. These dolls which are usually in a pair as a bride and groom and is a part of the Golu display done in households during Navaratri. Marapachi Bommai hold great sentimental value as they are given as part of the bride’s wedding trousseau and are a legacy passed on from one generation to another in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. The dolls are in naked form and are typically decorated with clothes and finery by children as their playthings. The female doll...

This 18th-century carved wooden figure likely depicts the Jade Emperor, the supreme monarch of heaven and earth in Chinese folklore and Taoist mythology. Ruler of all deities and ben...

A set of Thai wood carving panels with flower. Age: Thailand, Rattanakosin Period, 19th Century Size per panel: height 95 cm / width 21.4 cm / thickness 1.8 cm Size for all: height ...

500-600 Year old sandstone carving. The sculpture is depicting 'Two demons riding an elephant at the pagoda'. From Buddha pagoda / temple in Arakan, Burma. Naive and charming in it...

Chinese pottery horse head with original red and some white pigments remaining. Age: China, Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.- A.D.220 Size: Height 5.5 C.M. /...

Burmese wooden puppet head with stand. Age: Burma, Early 20th century Size: Height 19 C.M. / Width 13.7 C.M. / Thickness 13 C.M. Size including stan...

A beautiful string of Japanese hand-crafted Buddhist Juzu mala beads made of natural wood. These rosary-type prayer bead necklaces were used by Buddhist mon...

A charming and finely decorated carved and lacquered boxwood netsuke of Hotei by Shunsho (probably Shunsho XI, Masaoki), Meiji period, circa 1900, Japan. This delightful and colorful netsuke features the beloved figure Hotei, one of the Seven Lucky Gods. The god of fortune and happiness is seated upon his treasure bag, and being dragged by a smiling child. Carved from boxwood and decorated in bright lacquers of gold, silver, red, black and green. Hotei's chest and ample stomach mostly exposed, his skin covered in gold lacquer. Large elephantine ears frame his bearded face. His red-lipped mouth open in an uproarious laugh. Hotei's treasure bag formed as a patchwork of various brocades in gold, red, and black lacquer. The black lacquer further decorated in the lac burgaute...

Vintage Buddhist 'nine peaches' hard stone carving - symbolizing immortality and long life - peaches are one of the three 'blessed fruits' in Buddhism...

One of a kind. From western China and collected some 20 years ago, comes this large hand carved red sandstone Lohan or Monk sculpture dating to circa...

Antique 18th century fruitwood carved Memento Mori Skull. The skull of petrified display powerfully carved in the form of a human skull consisting of the cranium, upper and lower jaws, the cadaverous face with deliberate missing tooth in brown wash patination throughout. Stood upon a small marble base with the skull attaching via a dowel fitting. The Skull probably from German origin. Notes  From approximately the sixteenth century, skulls were commonly used to remember death as they symbolise the transience of human life. Memento Mori literal Latin translation means remember that you [have to] die. The concept has its roots in the philosophers of classical antiquity, and appeared in funeral art and architecture of the medieval period. Memento Mori jewellery...

Antique Thai teak blue hand painted chofa A teakwood “Chofa” which adorn the end of the roof of most temples in Thailand in the shape of a slender bird a...

Chinese Russet Jade hardwood Imperial Ruyi Scepter Qing Dynasty 19th century, Provenance. Large Chinese Qing Dynasty jade Ruyi scepter with three ...

Extraordinary natural stone work of art, one of a kind. This Chinese extraordinary natural stone "painting" suggestive of an inlet bay like setting an...

A set of antique Burmese wood carving Pagoda. Age: Burma, Mandalay Period, 19th Century Size of pagoda only: Height 16.4 - 18.8 C.M. / Width 6 - ...

An integral part of traditional Chinese home life, ancestor worship before a domestic altar often featured painted ancestral portraits or tabletop ancestor figure...

A hands up carved wood Happy Buddha, very happy figure.

This Ching Dynasty carved polychrome seated Taoist altar god was once used on the family altar to honor their ancestors. Ancestor worship plays a major role in Chinese religion. This...

Chinese guardian lions, or imperial guardian lions, are a traditional Chinese architectural ornament. Typically made of stone, they are also known as stone lions or shishi (石獅; shíshī). They are known in colloquial English as lion dogs or foo dogs / fu dogs. The concept, which originated and became popular in Chinese Buddhism, features a pair of highly stylized lions—often one male with a ball and one female with a cub—which were thought to protect the building from harmful spiritual influences and harmful people that might be a threat. Used in imperial Chinese palaces and tombs, the lions subsequently spread to other parts of Asia including Japan (see komainu), Korea, Philippines, Tibet, Thailand, Myanmar, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Cambodia, Laos, and Malaysia. There has been extensive interaction between Chinese mythology and Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Elements of pre-Han dynasty mythology such as those in Classic of Mountains and Seas were adapted into these belief systems as they developed (in the case of Taoism), or were assimilated into Chinese culture (in the case of Buddhism). Elements from the teachings and beliefs of these systems became incorporated into Chinese mythology. For example, the Taoist belief of a spiritual Paradise became incorporated into mythology as the place where immortals and deities used to dwell. Sometimes mythological and religious ideas have become widespread across China's many regions and diverse ethnic societies. In other cases, beliefs are more limited to certain social groups, for example, the veneration of white stones by the Qiang. One mythological theme that has a long history and many variations involves a shamanic world view, for example in the cases of Mongolian shamanism among the Mongols, Hmong shamanism among the Miao people, and the shamanic beliefs of the Qing dynasty from 1643 to 1912, derived from the Manchus. Politically, mythology was often used to legitimize the dynasties of China, with the founding house of a dynasty claiming a divine descent. Mythology and philosophy. Further information: Chinese philosophy True mythology is distinguished from philosophical treatises and theories. Elaborations on the Wu Xing are not really part of mythology, although belief in five elements could appear. The Hundred Schools of Thought is a phrase suggesting the diversity of philosophical thought that developed during the Warring States of China. Then, and subsequently, philosophical movements had a complicated relationship with mythology. However, as far as they influence or are influenced by mythology, divides the philosophical camps into two rough halves, a Liberal group and a Conservative group. The liberal group being associated with the idea of individuality and change, for example as seen in the mythology of divination in China, such as the mythology of the dragon horse that delivered the eight bagua diagrams to Fu Xi, and methods of individual empowerment as seen in the Yi Jing (Book of Changes). The Liberal tendency is towards individual freedom, Daoism, and Nature. The relationship of the Conservative philosophies to mythology is seen in the legendary Nine Tripod Cauldrons, mythology about the emperors and central bureaucratic governance, Confucianism, written histories, ceremonial observances, subordination of the individual to the social groups of family and state, and a fixation on stability and enduring institutions. The distinction between the Liberal and Conservative is very general, but important in Chinese thought. Contradictions can be found in the details, however these are often traditional, such as the embrace by Confucius of the philosophical aspects of the Yi Jing, and the back-and-forth about the Mandate of Heaven wherein one dynasty ends and another begins based according to accounts (some of heavily mythological) where the Way of Heaven results in change, but then a new ethical stable dynasty becomes established. Examples of this include the stories of Yi Yin, Tang of Shang and Jie of Xia or the similar fantastic stories around Duke of Zhou and King Zhou of Shang. Mythology exists in relationship with other aspects of society and culture, such as ritual. Various rituals are explained by mythology. For example, the ritual burning of mortuary banknotes (Hell Money), lighting fireworks, and so on. A good example of the relationship of Chinese mythology and ritual is the Yubu, also known as the Steps or Paces of Yu. During the course of his activities in controlling the Great Flood, Yu was supposed to have so fatigued himself that he lost all the hair from his legs and developed a serious limp. Daoist practitioners sometimes incorporate a curiously choreographed pedal locomotion into various rituals. Mythology and practice, one explains the other: in these rituals, the sacred time of Yu merges with the sacral practice of the present. Various ideas about the nature of the earth, the universe, and their relationship to each other have historically existed as either a background or a focus of mythologies. One typical view is of a square earth separated from a round sky by sky pillars (mountains, trees, or undefined). Above the sky is the realm of Heaven, often viewed of as a vast area, with many inhabitants. Often the heavenly inhabitants are thought to be of an "as above so below" nature, their lives and social arrangements being parallel to those on earth, with a hierarchical government run by a supreme emperor, many palaces and lesser dwellings, a vast bureaucracy of many functions, clerks, guards, and servants. Below was a vast under ground land, also known as Diyu, Yellow Springs, Hell, and other terms. As time progressed, the idea of an underground land in which the souls of the departed were punished for their misdeeds during life became explicit, related to developments in Daoism and Buddhism. The underground world also came to be conceived of as inhabited by a vast bureaucracy, with kings, judges, torturers, conductors of souls, minor bureaucrats, recording secretaries, similar to the structure of society in the Middle Kingdom (earthly China). Chinese temple Dogs...

A wonderfully sand stone-carved Asian deity figure / sculpture likely from Cambodia. The detailed head is likely that of the divinity deity Shiva, sometimes referred to as the smiling God-King. The features are clearly reminiscent of the carvings found at both Bayon Temple at Angkor Thom...

Burmese puppet head was mainly used in the puppet show. Due to the heavily used of puppets, the body and costumes are no longer survived. Age: Burma, 20...

Beautifully carved Qing dynasty tea caddy from Elmwood (yumu), with floral motifs and finished with an oxblood color lacquer. The large size is very usual and was used in a large family compound. The tea caddy is designed to hold and keep warm, large tea pot filled with tea. The tea pot’s spout comes out the front opening for pouring. The horizontal bar used as the container’s handle has a pivoting lock when open, the handle bar can be removed and closing of the pivoting lock, the handle is secure for use. The wooden tea caddy...

Dayak baby carrier from Borneo, Indonesia, estimated made in mid 1900’s. Colourful bead work depicting tradition mother goddess hand-stitched on rattan gr...

Thai manuscript wooden chest with gilded gold. Age: Thailand, Rattanakosin Period, 19th Century Size: Length 87.5 C.M. / Width 30.8 C.M. / Height 33.4...

Burmese wooden tribal mask. Age: Burma, Mandalay Period, 19th century Size: Height 27 C.M. / Width 20 C.M. / Thickness 17.3 C.M. Size including...

A large carved example of The Seven Lucky Gods of Fortune, carved from a large tree segment. Believed to be of Chinese origin, early 20th century. A ...

Burmese bronze Buddha sitting in Mara Vijaya (calling the earth to witness) posture on a base. Age: Burma, Shan Period, 17th Century Size: Height 25.8 C.M. / Width 12.1 C.M. / Thick...

A pair of Burmese lacquered vase with gilding. Age: Burma, Early 20th Century Size: Height 51.8 C.M. / Width 14.3 C.M. Condition: Nice condition overall (some expected degradati...

This elegantly carved temple drum wase use in Buddhist Temples. It’s carved from teak and lacquered black with red and green stripped details. The top and straps are made of leather. These gigantic goblet...

A pair of 20th century or earlier Chinese hardwood hand carved five-claw dragon mirrors. Each is hand carved with high relief Imperial five-claw dragons flying in the air. They also ...

Burmese wooden rocking doll with stand. Age: Burma, early 20th century. Size: height 13 cm / width 10.2 cm. / thickness 9.8 cm. Size including stand: height 34.8 cm. Condition:...

A pair of wood fragments carved in high relief with overlapping leaves of magnolia and mimosa, fronting blossoms of magnolia and reeded fractions of columns. Hand carved, solid wood,...

A fantastic wood and gilt decorated hand carved Chinese ancestral temple shrine Emperor figure riding a mythical beast - perhaps a tiger. From a collection of Chinese and Asian artifacts...

A delightful and mischievous pair of Japanese carved and lacquered wood Inari foxes, kitsune, dated Showa year twenty six, corresponding to 1951, Japan. T...