What is it ? id help

Hello friends,

I'd like to understand what it is.

A wooden horse's head, on a velvet-lined wooden shield.
The horse shows only the signs of the passage of woodworms but the insects are no longer present, there are only the holes.
From the hook and its condition it looks quite old to me.
What could it represent? An old trophy? Do you know similar objects?
I haven't been very lucky with google.
It is quite large, about 60 cm.
I bought it from an auction house in Rome, Italy, in a large lot of various objects
Thanks to all of you for the replies

 

The horse itself is beautiful. I have no idea on the usage, if any.

The size of the horse is a little disproportionate to the shield. Just a guess, but given the size disparity, the cloth backing, and the wear, could it have possibly been used to hold ribbons/awards?

 

Maybe a coat of arm shaped "écu", with perhaps other objects displayed around the horse head (knife, dagger or battle Axe...)

 

thanks, so from the shape we could go back to the country of origin, it could be .... I googled "coat of arms shapes" there are hundreds of different shapes except the one we are looking for. Argh :-/ from your point of view what approximate dating could we attribute?

 

I'd think a chic decorative item. Fabrics look 1960s to my eye. Horse, of course, looks older.

Debora

 

Thanks Debora,
do you mean that the horse is older than the 60's and was later placed on the wall shield?

 

It appears to be to my eye, Gianluca, but not my area of expertise. Still, I very much like your find.

Debora

 

thanks a lot

 

I love the horse. It’s been carved by someone with a good knowledge of horses with one ear forwards and one back. Shame about the woodworm but maybe it can be restored?

 

Reminds me of those French horse head trade signs, I think those were usually cast iron or zinc not wood.

 

I'm with @Debora . That velvet is very 60s/70s. I can remember nice tourist bits like this from holidays in Italy back then.