Featured A Mystery piece of Art Deco wooden sculpture...

I've been scratching my head whilst trying to establish the maker of this piece. Some have suggested Adnet, or that its Javanese, but???

The sculpture itself as been carved by hand from one piece of 'exotic' wood which then 'pegs' into an adzed oak wooden base. It stands at 13" high and is 17" in length. The copper-wire "lasso" is not a later addition.

Your help/ideas would be appreciated.

 

OMG ! That is fabulous ! That base is all wrong in my opinion ,so humble compared to the artistry of the piece.

 

I did consider the base to be wrong, but when studying the 2 pegs on the feet of the gazelle, it kind of makes sense and appears to be correct, even though the wood-types are different. It may have had a marble base perhaps???

 

Too OTT to be period, methinks ..just an opinion though ...pretty radical ...Hagenauer made exotic wood and metal sculpture ... usually African themed tho ...maybe a contemporary maker in Europe? just early morning musings ..

 

Looks like the model for an Art Deco hood ornament.

 

It would certainly make a good one! A bit too large though.

 

You could be on to something with the Hagenauer attribution. Thanks for that @blooey. This is a piece by Hagenauer... Perhaps I now need a wooden sleigh!!!

 

Beautiful, ritzy. I agree, the base looks out of place.

Jacques Adnet did do gazelles, but they are generally much more 'chunky' than this elegant pair, so probably not likely. If Javanese, it is likely to be modern.

Maybe you're looking for a sculptor who stylewise is in between Adnet and Hagenauer?

 

@Any Jewelry I don't know too much about wooden items, but I do think the wood has a good age-related patina to it. It's obviously Art Deco in 'style' but ??? I suppose it could be unique (given how it was made) which makes finding another to compare it to close to impossible

If only all artists of yesteryear signed their works it would make our lives a darn-sight easier today! lol

Whoever it was that carved this piece was a true artist indeed and a master of his or her craft. My name would be stamped all over it if I'd created it!

 

Absolutely.

I think Javanese is highly unlikely. Never say never, until you know for sure, that is, but it doesn't strike me as a subject Javanese artists would be interested in making. They are very good at incorporating Javanese subjects into international art styles, making their art look very Javanese.
And as far as I know, Java is not a region where art is copied solely for commercial purposes. It certainly wasn't in the Art Deco period, when it was still Dutch.

In the late 19th and early 20th century the Dutch had a policy of promoting traditional arts and crafts, to preserve Javanese culture. There is Art Deco on Java, but that is mostly architecture, and mostly by Dutch architects. Very beautiful though.
The only accepted contemporary art by Javanese artists was the 'Mooi Indië School' (mostly painting and sketching), which had already been established in the 17th-18th century and evolved during the 19th century. It was accepted because of it's history.
This gazelle and lady is far from 'Mooi Indië'.

 

The grouping of a female & deer is a common subject for Art Deco sculptures, and was adopted by numerous makers of the period. It signifies/portrays "Diana The Huntress" which to the best of my knowledge doesn't feature within 'Mooie Indie' mythology... My money's on Hagenauer for the time being, with Adnet being a rank outsider (unfortunately in terms of value!)

 

Yes, it does.

Mooi Indië doesn't feature any mythological subjects to my knowledge.
Traditonal Javanese art does, but from Javanese mythology, mostly Hindu.

My avatar picture is considered 'Mooi Indië', it is by W.G. Hofker.
This is an earlier 'Mooi Indië' painting, 'The Capture of Diponegoro' by Raden Saleh:

 

The marks are just natural graining within the wood.

 

Because of the extreme interpretation of the Deco style I would place this in the post-1970's Deco revival area. It really is too "Deco" to be true Deco.