Featured Chinese carved wood lacquered warriors - Please help identify their age

Dear fellow antiquers,
I will be very grateful if those of you specializing in Chinese antiques could help me identify the age of these figures - a pair of carved warriors/guardians, and a Weituo figure. All three are lacquered: the pair of guardians look guilded, Weituo has a thick reddish golden lacquer.

I have inherited an antiques store (these were among the items) and working through its inventory to incorporate into my shop. Since I am only learning the ropes when it comes to Asian antiques (my areas are Middle Eastern antiques and antique printmaking), would very much appreciate any advice!

Thanks a ton in advance!

 

Lovely!

Welcome @avant!

 

Thank you!

 

(the right folks will be along, soon)

 

I'm wondering if they are chess pieces??

 

not unless that sharpie is an inch long....................

or the chess board is 6 feet wide !!

 

the weituo figure looks older than the two guardians i think.the cracks and paint looks good,i think it is not younger than 19th century (just my guess),can you show the base photos?thank you

 

I am absolutely in love with the first one, it is gorgeous.
As you said, it is Weituo, a guardian of Buddhist teachings. As such he is often found in monasteries.
I think he and his friends were originally on altars, and are 19th century.

 

Thanks so much, all! I am attaching the base photos too, if you have any additional thoughts. The first picture is the base of Weituo, and the other is the pair of guardians.

Although I am still new to the world of Chinese and Asian antiques, the craftsmanship of most things that I have encountered amazes me.

 

the weituo base looks old,it could be 18-19th century (i'm not a pro,just my guess).I think i have seen kind of statue with condition like that coming from 18th century.

 

Thanks so much Silver Wolf! This helps a lot!

 

btw,you've said above you are familiar with middle eastern antique,i have a silver kindjal dagger,can you check it?i'll post in new thread tonight

 

Of course! Where can I see this dagger?

 

i think i'm too lazy to start a new thread

 

yes...U R !!
Nice dagger though !!!

 

This is a truly beautiful dagger! Have you had it tested for silver content? The bone inlays are most likely camel bone. The stones look carnelian. As for its origin, I think this is an Omani dagger, of the al-Ganobi khanjar type.
Also, here is a reliable article with some more details on this and other types of Omani daggers:
http://khanjar.om/Types.html

 

It is nice, but it doesn't strike me as an Omani al-Ganobi khanjar.
I don't know of any Omani (or Yemeni, related) daggers with that dainty floral finial at the tip. Or that glass? inlay (sorry, I'm not seeing carnelian). Moreover, Omani daggers have a central ridge on the blade.

Maybe it is from India?
@Silver Wolf , is that silvery metal silver or base metal?

 

i'm not yet test this silver content,but it has character of silver it easily get oxidized.And the stone i don't know is it carnelian,i think it looks like glass/synthetic stone.the seller said it was came from somewhere in central asia,what do you think?

 

Another possibility could be one of the Berber daggers, related to the Moroccan koummya. And Berbers will happily mount glass on silver, something I can't see the Omanis doing.
These are koummyas:


Yours is different, the rings are asymmetric, and the pommel slightly more elegant. And the koummya has a different blade to yours, but it could be a relative, so to speak. Koummyas also have dainty finials.