Where is this guy from, what is he holding, and why is he in my house?!?

Bought a pile of African carvings from a guy for one piece I liked. Turns out we hit it off big time and he gave me this as a parting gift. I keep thinking Moorish but don’t find anything quite like it searching that way. Any ideas? Pictured next to a sofa so it’s quite tall.

 

He appears to be holding his long dangly thing.

 

Id guess mexican. And that long dangly thing might be a rosary ,so maybe a saint.

 

It looks more monkish than Moorish.

 

Wow, I'm way off. I thought the long thing on his robe was part of his robe and he was holding some type of drink container, because above his thumb it looked like the top of a jug. Ha ha.

 

My first thought was St Francis holding a bird so go figure. Funny.

 

What did "the guy" tell you about it?

Debora

 

I was feeling 1960s hippie so there ya go.

 

Portraying a bald man is a little unusual (no offense intended). I am wondering if the article he is "holding" is a misunderstanding of the rope belts that Franciscan monks wear, and the baldness a misunderstanding of a tonsure.

Is the wood light weight, or heavy? Are there clear growth rings on the base?

 

Nada. Came in an storage auction.

 

Quite heavy and if I recall correctly clear growth rings. I’ll check again soon.

 

What part of the country was it found in?

Debora

 

Boom Shaka Laka!

 

Northeast Quadrant.

I think 2many hit it on the head with her assessment.

 

Think so too.

Debora

 

So you may have been correct about Mexico!

 

Mexicans are much more likely to be familiar with Catholic iconography. I am thinking more African, or even Indonesian - they have been making carvings imitating a variety of styles recently.

 

Based on how he looks to me and the other stuff he came with I would still venture to guess African. There certainly seems to be a bunch of Franciscan monk carvings coming out of Mexico though. I think this guy has been around for a while though. He was telling me how he has been on a couple moves with them.

 

Because he is not a "traditional" style from anywhere, it may be particularly difficult to identify his origin. If you could get the wood accurately identified, that could be a useful bit of evidence.
This site describes the characteristics of some common African wood species used for lumber:
https://www.woodworkerssource.com/lumber/african-woods.html

 

I'd agree.......IF'N it came out of his Belly Button area!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!