Argentine Folk Art

There has long been a fascination with the symbolism of the dragon and its depiction in carpet weavings. The design of ‘Dragon’ carpets consists of a field pattern composed of different colored overlaid lattices formed of pointed, serrated leaves creating intersecting lozenges, which alternately contain palmettes and are flanked by confronting stylized dragons, birds, or animal figures. The most archaic of the ‘Dragon’ carpets include dragon motifs with birds and running animals relatively naturalistically drawn, which stand either alone or in confronting pairs facing a tree. The Graf carpet, originally found in a Damascene mosque, now in the Islamiches Museum, Berlin, is considered to be the oldest example of this type, see Serare Yetkin, Early Caucasian Carpets in Turkey, Vol. II, London, 1978, p.8, fig.118. Yetkin defines four types of ‘Dragon’ carpet: ‘Archaic’, ‘Four-Dragon’, ‘Dragon-and-Phoenix’ and as a further combined development of the latter, the ‘Two-Dragon’ style, of which the present carpet falls into the ‘Dragon-and-Phoenix group along with other examples, some of which include two fragments, one in the Museum fur Kunst und Gerwerbe, Hamburg; another in the Christian Museum, Esztergom, Hungary, a complete carpet in the Kier collection; an incomplete example in the Textile Museum, Washington, D.C; the ‘Cassirer’ Dragon carpet in the Thyssen-Bornemisza collection, Lugano; the Ali Pasa Mosque carpet in Tokat, and a further example in the Vakiflar Hali Museum, Istanbul (S. Yetkin, op. cit. pp.16-20). It has been suggested that the earliest examples of the Caucasian ‘Dragon’ carpets...

Elegant watercolor depicting a bus scene by illustrator Gus Bofa. Dimensions: 12.5 x 24 cm

Wonderfully charming hand-carved 19th Century American folk art horse sculpture on stand. Pay special attention to its face and the carved details to appreciate this fine specimen. ...

This bronze head sculpture signed by artist O. Ramsburg can be displayed as an elegant table top art piece.

This antique metal coal box or coal scuttle is presumably made in England during the 1820s in the Regency period and style. The box is constructed of th...

Exquisite handcrafted Middle Eastern mosaic marquetry inlaid walnut wood box. Small box intricately decorated with Moorish motif designs which h...

A hand-made folk art sculpture of a horse from the End of 19th Century/ Early 20th Century. This French made papier mâché horse is wrapped in leather, presented in its authentic old ...

This large and substantial sculpture of a horse's head is unsigned, but believed to have been made in Canada in circa 1980. The sculpture is made completely of pieces of driftwood...

Have a seat! One of a kind human form chair. Wonderfully carved muscles, toes, clenched fists for support. Looks like the chair is ready to go crawling ac...

Small Antique Spanish Colonial Chest, Late 1700’s Small colonial chest made of mesquite wood with remnants of paint. Assembled with dovetail joints and featuring impressive wrought i...

Fine quality late 19th century "straight stick" mahogany cane with a "sterling" silver mark at the base of the highly repoussed and chased collar; with a floral geometric design at ...

A quite wonderful Mexican Day of the Dead (Dia De Los Muertos festival held throughout Mexico) La Catrina symbolic skeleton figure. La Catrina is the festival’s most recognizable image/figure. She is the model of a high-society woman who has met Death, her maker. She represents something between the fear induced by her skeletal form and the revelry exhibited by the comical way she is typically portrayed, making her a perfect symbol of the Mexican holiday. She often appears in paintings, window displays, and costumes all around Mexico during the Day of the Dead festivities. La Catrina was originally conceived in the early 1900s by newspaper illustrator and printmaker José Guadalupe Posada...