Posted 4 years ago
Daulina
(1 item)
This I found today for $5 at a thrift shop!
It’s amazing and detailed and appears to be carved out if one piece of wood! The bottom shows the wood grain and there’s are no identifying markers... bummer!
Hold love to know more about this piece!
The good detail is amazing and the patina is simply the coolest! It is also huge! 21 inches tall and 9 wide at widest area!!
That is worth a lot more than $5. Looks like it came from an old Catholic church.
I figured that was a Steal! I have been trying to find more info but I think with these kind of things it’s hard with no markings and this was obviously one of a kind made by hand.
It’s really neat.
My first thought was Joan of Arc, but then I saw the baldness on top of the head. The clothing looks as if from a rich family. A girls face? Young anyway.
The hollow arm suggests it's not one piece of wood.
It's a marvelous thing to find. Well done!
Wikipedia gives us this information of the painting on the glass. Church is German, but the glass, made in France.
"The Protestant parish church of St. Michael is the main church of the entire parish Schwäbisch Hall . As a place of work of Johannes Brenz , it was after 1523 the starting point of the Reformation in the imperial city territory. Their careful introduction to Hall also preserved valuable equipment from the pre-Reformation period in St. Michael.
St. Michael is one of the most important buildings in Schwäbisch Hall. Since October 2013, the church is the bearer of the European Heritage Label (within the framework of the network 20 sites of the Reformation in Germany ). [1] Today it serves both church purposes as a concert space."
@ Daulina -I'm really sorry for what I posted in Post 4. I had posted on your piece, then left the room, came back to the computer, and forgot to exit from your post.
It’s not actually a hollow arm it is the sleeve of his gown and the inside is hollowed out just a little tiny bit not much it’s definitely heavy
It looks like a tonsured (shaved spot on top of head) monk, but with the robes being gilded and the fact he's holding a book I am betting on a saint, like Benedict, Stephen, Philip or Augustine, (there are also many more, but my $ is on Stephen for some reason.) St Francis is unlikely. The style of the facial features makes me think it's newer than my initial reaction which was Renaissance/Protestant Reformation. The face, to me, seems newer than the body, and that may be a result of restoration, or if it's a "franken-piece" made of salvaged parts, or simply a tourist forgery sold outside many churches across Europe for the last couple hundred years. You want to check if there's plaster applied to the wood (under the paint) or if it's 100% wood & paint. The paint is important to dating as well, tempera and/or frescoe pigments indicate older, etc. Good luck. If you aren't local to a decent expert, you'd be surprised at what your local archdiocese can point you to for info. Old nuns and priests are a wealth of arcane knowledge. Best! Mae.
Try St Anthony, too.
It really is special.
I can see wood in between the eyes so it’s definitely wooden. This is all so interesting!
Excellent find wow ! Carved Wood Santos Figure . Love love
What does the back look like?
http://www.antiques.com/classified/14195/Antique-18th-Century-Santos-in-Gold-Frock
Very close to yours
Wow that’s a great read!