Great and weird carving of a seal's body with a man's head in a typical whimsey "ball in box". The carving also has some symbols on all 4 sides of the base. This recently sold for $ 430.00 on eBay.
Here's the seller's description: 1920's Wood Carved Whimsey. Carved out of one piece of wood. Very Unusual! A seal's body with a head in a box sits on top of a pedestal. The head in the box can turn 360 degrees so he can look out each opening. The pedestal has an eye behind a curtain carved on one side, a four leaf clover and and Indian symbol that I believe stands for friendship. I'm sure all of these symbols mean something! Found in New York State. It is signed twice on the bottom, R H R. Once in red paint and it is also carved in. I think the wood is spruce. It measures 10 3/4" tall and the base is 3 1/2" square.
Great! Folk Art is the craftsmanship of people from a local area which depicts the everyday life. the 1920's wood carved whimsy looks good and the box has a opening from every corner. Thanks for giving such an interesting information on folk art.
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking it out Sammy! I have this personal obsession with folk art and all things with great visual appeal. There's nothing better than sharing these things with people that have the same interest.
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Take care,
Joey.
I watched this auction on E-bay. This has nothing to do with folk art. The symbols on the bottom are not rhr, they are possible runic. The cross like symbol is called a "WAN", a religious symbol of India, also used as a marker on Japanese maps for the location of a temple. This piece came from overseas I would bet and is very, very, old.
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