Featured Indian carved picture or wall panel of god / VIP hunting?

I found this at an Op[portunity] shop in Sydney. It's very bright. The colours in the photos are pretty true to the original. I hope the photos provide enough detail. I read somewhere that this is called 'undercut' carving? No marks, signatures. Nothing on the back. It is very heavy. Size: 60 cm x 40 cm including frame. There is a small piece missing from the hunter's bow, otherwise it seems pretty intact. Any thought?

 

I think it's well done - I'm sure @Any Jewelry will have something to say on this one. I think some of the pieces might be ivory(such as the horses) but hard to tell from these pics.

 

Nice find!

 

After I posted this thread, my brain said, You idiot. Look at the pointy hats.
Quite likely Thai. The umbrella on the back is a nice touch. I did search on the subject matter off and on, rather than its country of origin to a large extent with no luck. Thank you very much for that link. The two are remarkably similar, except that there are two hunters in your find, one of whom appears to have either fallen off his horse or decided to aim from the running board. And maybe the bow isn't broken. I was quite irritated that only one small piece would be damaged when the rest is intact. But why depict half a bow?
aaroncab, Ivory! Good heavens and ouch! Poor old elephant.

 

The shop had it displayed in its front window and believe me, the colours just popped.

 

It is king Rama from the Hindu epic Ramayana, on his way to rescue his beautiful wife Sita from the clutches of the demon king Ravanna.
These are the original Sanskrit names, the Thai made them more Thai.

Yep.
I don't think there is any ivory involved, btw. Did you check if it is all wood? It looks a bit like antiqued resin to me.

In south and southeast Asia a parasol is a sign of high status. Parasols represent the higher chakra's (a person's energy centres), which denote higher spirituality. Rulers were thought to be more spiritual than low ranking people.

In princely Indonesia the kind of parasol and the colour denoted your particular status. If you had the wrong colour.... I suspect this was the same in Thailand.

A distant relative, the regent of Bangkalan, Madura, with a folded status parasol on the right:

The wheel symbol (cosmic or star chakra) is the crest of my Cakraningrat ancestors. The lion, a present from the Dutch king, is a symbol of royalty.

 

Any Jewelry, many thanks for the information. Most interesting. I never thought this panel was anything but wood, somehow painted or whatever. It is very heavy and it seems that much Thai carving is of teak which explains that. I will look further for antiqued resin. Does this indicate no real age to it?

 

It is an applied patina, whether all wood or wood and resin. That means no great age, but I wouldn't expect that anyway. These panels are bought for their decorative value, not their antique value. They are after temple reliefs, so there is no difference in style between one made in 1960 or in 2010.
I don't know when patinating wood and resin started in Thailand. I didn't see it when I was there in the early 70s, but then I didn't see everything that was on offer.

In Indonesia antiqueing wood started in the 1950s, they used shoe polish in those days.

 

Shoe polish! That will make Greg smile!

 

Hi,
It does. Good shoe polish is carnauba wax a wonderful thing.
greg