Vintage Tall Hand Painted Santa Sculpture, 1930

Originally collected in the Solomon Islands in 1938, this one of a kind treasure from the south pacific comes from a private oceanic collection. This is a Solomon Islands Santa Cruz hand carved figure called a Duka, circa 1930s. It was carved in an extremely hard native wood and features a finely carved, unusual extended conical head, a handwoven loin cloth and turmeric encrustation. For your convenience, many of our photographs were taken in natural day light which accurately illuminate surface areas depicting original dark patina that you would expect from an important early carving such as this one. We will include a complimentary custom wood display base that you see photographed. Dimensions: 21.25 inches high Provenance: collected in l938 and originally acquired by a visiting French collecting tourist in the Solomon Islands then to dealer and Texas collector and to our private collection in year 2000 so could have been a specially crafted fine 1930s tourist sculpture piece for the visiting French tourist. History: Duka sculpture from Nendo Island, politically part of the Solomon Islands, is distinctive, and only a limited number of works have been documented. The conical extension at the back of the head represents a man's hairstyle. Called abe, its construction and shape was a symbol of wealth and high social status, and for older men, it also served the practical purpose of covering bald spots. All Nendo figure refer to deities or supernatural beings (Ellis: 2009, pp. 78-85) Auction sale: Bonhams Auctions April 28, 2015 sale. Exceptional Lime Container...

From Scotland and an old New England collection. Unique find. Scottish Hand crafted, hand painted, and incised wooden bowl, 1930 An all original work of art signed on botto...

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A beautiful and exceptionally 18 inches tall Classic traditional Kokeshi doll from Northern Japan. Handcrafted of wood and hand-painted in the the early 20th century. In good conditi...

Stunning and unique pair of matching horse sculptures. With a combined experience of almost 30 years in the antiques trade, we were thrilled to once again find beautifully hand-crafted and decorative antiques that we had never seen before. From the density and the weight we can see and feel that these highly decorative horse sculptures are made of a tropical hardwood. Like, for example, with antique mirror frames or church sculptures these horses too were first covered with a mixture of chalk and glue so that the paint would hold longer. And, as so often is the case with antiques, the colors that were used for painting these horses are so much more beautiful than anything you find in this day and age that they truly are an absolute joy to look at. From the colors, the wear, the materials and the techniques that were used to create these horses we can see that these are 19th century antiques. However and unfortunately we lack the knowledge to be able to tell you from which country these highly decorative and sizeable works of art originate. We just can't find matching style horse sculptures anywhere on the worldwide web. They could be Chinese or Nepalese, but they could also be Persian or Arabian. We just have not been able to find out. What we do know is that they are definitely antique, they are in beautiful condition (with some wear, consistent with their age), they are highly decorative, probably unique and they have a look and feel that will instantly change the atmosphere of the room they are in. Mind you, our sharp price for this wonderful pair of horse sculptures...

Hand painted wooden horse, most likely mango wood, purchased in Jaipur, India in 2019.

Hand painted wooden horse, most likely mango wood, purchased in Jaipur, India in 2019.