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I really appreciated the help from everyone with identifying my last "mystery item" (it was a container for smelling salts, circa 1890)

This one is a little more ominous.

https://pic8.co/sh/jPnVCX.jpg

This is a statue, carved from 2 pieces of wood, one piece for the body, another for the head. It looks like it had been painted at one point but I can't tell for sure. It is roughly 2' tall and 3' long. No marks of any kind, and it looks like carved wooden pegs hold the head to the body. It seems to be solid and not hollow. I have no background on its original origin.

Someone I know found this while renovating a house in south Philadelphia. He takes derelict shitty row homes and makes them just liveable enough that section 8 hoodrats can move in. He buys them super cheap and usually they are abandoned. He guts them entirely and rents them out. He recently bought an abandoned property. He was tearing out the damaged plaster walls to install drywall, and found this behind the lathe. It was surrounded by the original plaster and lathe and no obvious recent repairs were made to the wall.

He took it to another friend who sells antiques at an antique mall. Many of the vendors came by to see it, but nobody knew anything about it. It unsettled the customers in his booth so he relegated it to his storage unit, which is where it sits today.

I thought it was some kind of Foo Dog, but can't find any similar. What do you think?

Another pic https://pic8.co/sh/3jByAb.jpg

I really appreciated the help from everyone with identifying my last "mystery item" (it was a container for smelling salts, circa 1890) This one is a little more ominous. https://pic8.co/sh/jPnVCX.jpg This is a statue, carved from 2 pieces of wood, one piece for the body, another for the head. It looks like it had been painted at one point but I can't tell for sure. It is roughly 2' tall and 3' long. No marks of any kind, and it looks like carved wooden pegs hold the head to the body. It seems to be solid and not hollow. I have no background on its original origin. Someone I know found this while renovating a house in south Philadelphia. He takes derelict shitty row homes and makes them just liveable enough that section 8 hoodrats can move in. He buys them super cheap and usually they are abandoned. He guts them entirely and rents them out. He recently bought an abandoned property. He was tearing out the damaged plaster walls to install drywall, and found this behind the lathe. It was surrounded by the original plaster and lathe and no obvious recent repairs were made to the wall. He took it to another friend who sells antiques at an antique mall. Many of the vendors came by to see it, but nobody knew anything about it. It unsettled the customers in his booth so he relegated it to his storage unit, which is where it sits today. I thought it was some kind of Foo Dog, but can't find any similar. What do you think? Another pic https://pic8.co/sh/3jByAb.jpg

(post is archived)

[–] • 3 pts

The shape of the dog's face looks like it has influences from either South-East Asia , or India.

[–] • 1 pt

Their styles are so intermingled because of Buddhism it could be from anywhere around their.

[–] • 0 pt

I'm leaning to more Oriental than Indian.

[–] • 0 pt

That's what I thought, too! I tried a bunch of different keywords in my searches, but so far, no idea as to its country of origin.

[–] • 1 pt

Tibetan devil dog.

[–] • 1 pt

It's to keep your weed in man

[–] • 1 pt

It definitely has Foo qualities, although much less decorative. It looks more primitive, but considering what Foo statues can go for, he should really take it to an expert antique dealer and get it appraised.

[–] • 0 pt

You're right, it looks like it has Foo qualities. I'm not sure if it's so primitive because it's old, it's not a Foo at all, or it was made in a very impoverished part of the world. I'm not sure what kind of dealer I should contact, however. Possibly someone versed in asia-pacific antiques?

[–] • 0 pt

Yeah, I'd at least start there and then they might recommend someone better.

[–] • 0 pt

Looks like a variant of a Kerberos to me (hound of the underworld)

[–] • 0 pt

Take it to the Antiques Roadshow - Problem then is that you'll be doxxing yourself...

Give us all a shout out when you're on the telly!

[–] • 0 pt

Home made old kids rocking toy?

[–] • 1 pt

It doesn't seem to have ever been attached to a base, there are no nails, holes or glue on the feet. Either way, it's a strange thing to keep in a wall.

[–] • 0 pt

Probably would have burned it. Maybe the maker? Very interesting though.

[–] • 0 pt (edited )

I’m trying to figure out what’s on its back. Definitely interesting. I’ve seen a lot of dog motifs (could be a lion or cat due to tail) but not this one.

[–] • 1 pt

It looks almost phallic, which is creepy... the Foo dogs have tails the go up their back but the upper horn like protrusion looks to be seperate from this things tail...

[–] • 0 pt

For sure. The tail is a lions tail. But they often mixed animals together. Maybe they used that dong looking thing to drape a mane over it or something?