Featured ~ Flea Market find ~

what fruit or nut is that on the leaves?

 

I see pomegranates and plums. Both beautifully done.

Debora

 

The story of the amazing plaque starts here:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/carved-oval-wooden-and-bronze-plaque.17193/

A later thread, including communication with the V&A museum:

https://www.antiquers.com/threads/carved-plaque-v-a-excitement.38982/

 

It looks very fine to me, I love this sort of very skilled carving This is my plaque .... https://www.antiquers.com/threads/carved-plaque-v-a-excitement.38982/

 

That is indeed gorgeous. The overall balance and symmetry of a piece that has so many elements is so well done - one could spend much time looking at it. What is the wood type ( I may have missed that along the way) it is a deep, dark rich tone.

 

It's beautiful, @Drew -- and @808 raver 's is as well!

 

Like yours my is also walnut but unlike yours mine hung over (I suspect) a Scottish fire place where coal was their main source of fuel, it's filthy dirty. I did start cleaning it when I first got it but stopped for 2 reasons, 1 because I didn't know who carved it or it's value and 2 because cleaning wood carvings can be a real pain in the a**.
The more antiques I collect the more I'm drawn to wood carving, wood carving is really a lost art these days, yes artists still do it but the best today isn't anywhere near what it once was. Even your piece and mine were a revival of 17th c carvings done in the mid to late 19th c where schools were learning the old technics in Italy.
The time and skill needed to produce such works makes these well beyond economic viability unless they are commissioned by very wealthy patrons. I'm unsure of the time taken to do my plaque or your door but I do know how long it took a skilled carver to do a Anglo-Indian writing slope I own, it took 6 months! 6 months of a skilled carver, they would have been paid 3x the wage of a skilled tailor at that time (far more now). Just think of the cost today to produce? This is why wood carving holds such a special place in my colleting, even back then these very finely carved items were so rare. BTW your door is one of those rare items.

 

It may even have been peat.

 

Peat who ?

 

It could well have been peat but I remember when cleaning it it had a faint creosote smell and water with dish soap cleaned it but IPA didn't really do the job I expected. I don't think I want to clean it, I still don't know it's real value, I know one with total province sold in auction for $7,800 (mine doesn't have any) if mine is more or less commercial than the one sold I don't know but I'll leave to the person I sell it to lol