What it is this item?

I found a piece of antique in our family storing room which my mom told me that it has been in my family for a few generations and never knew what it was and what is it’s value, it looks like some sort of spoon but its big and it seems like it belongs to Mesopotamian civilizations can anyone tell me what it is and where is it from specifically?
And thank you for your responses


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looks like a hard wood water ladle ....I'm not recognizing the design though....
hummmmmmmm........

@Taupou
@Any Jewelry

Could it possibly be european ?

 

It looks Swedish or from that part of the world.

 

Hi Ibrahim!

Welcome to Antiquers..........

I thought Swedish/Scandinavian too.

Lapland?

 

Welcome, Ibrahim. Where did you find it?

I have two very different guesses, based on the circular pattern. Either (former) Yugoslavia, or Swat Valley, Pakistan.
I know....
Snake motifs can be found just about anywhere in the world.
Also tagging @2manybooks .

Swat Valley chest:

 

With the op's surname of Agha, I would assume the spoon comes from somewhere under Turkish influence. I am leaning toward the Balkans, as AJ suggested - anywhere from Yugoslavia to Bulgaria. Scandinavian spoons tend to be more rounded on the front edge. Balkans spoons that I have been finding tend to have the more pointed bowls. But I have not yet found a close match for the pierced work on a flattened stem, and the dropped bowl.

 

This is a Bulgarian "shepherd's stick" that has somewhat similar carving.

 

Lovely chest........but it calls for a ' Sidebar'....

The Ahkoond of Swat

"The Ahkoond of Swat is dead."--Press Dispatch
Lanigan, George Thomas (1846 - 1886)

Original Text:
Lanigan, George Thomas. "The Ahkoond of Swat." Canadian Poetry in English. Comp. Bliss Carman, Lorne Pierce and V. B. Rhodenizer. Toronto: Ryerson Press, 1954. PS8273 .C37 1954 Robarts Library

1What, what, what,
2What's the news from Swat?
3 Sad news,
4 Bad news,
5Comes by the cable led
6Through the Indian Ocean's bed,
7Through the Persian Gulf, the Red
8Sea and the Med-
9Iterranean--he's dead;
10The Ahkoond is dead!
11For the Ahkoond I mourn.
12 Who wouldn't?
13He strove to disregard the message stern,
14 But he Ahkoondn't.
15Dead, dead, dead;
16 Sorrow, Swats!
17Swats wha' hae wi' Ahkoond bled,
18Swats whom we had often led
19Onward to a gory bed,
20 Or to victory,
21 As the case might be.
22 Sorrow, Swats!
23Tears shed,
24 Shed tears like water,
25Your great Ahkoond is dead!
26 That Swat's the matter!
27Mourn, city of Swat!
28Your great Ahkoond is not,
29But lain 'mid worms to rot:
30His mortal part alone, his soul was caught
31(Because he was a good Ahkood)
32Up to the bosom of Mahound.
33Though earthly walls his frame surround
34(For ever hallowed be the ground!)
35And sceptics mock the lowly mound
36And say, "He's now of no Ahkound!"
37(His soul is in the skies!)
38The azure skies that bend above his loved
39 Metropolis of Swat
40He sees with larger, other eyes,
41Athwart all earthly mysteries--
42 He knows what's Swat.
43Let Swat bury the great Ahkoond
44 With a noise of mourning and of lamentation!
45Let Swat bury the great Ahkoond
46 With the noise of the mourning of the Swattish nation!
47 Fallen is at length
48 Its tower of strength,
49It's sun had dimmed ere it had nooned:
50Dead lies the great Ahkoond.
51 The great Ahkoond of Swat
52 Is not.

 

Definitely not Scandinavian; more African with the hand tooled eyes and the snakes. Uncommon, for sure, and very cool.

 

this guy says African.........but I can't confirm..

 

No i am from kurdistan region of iraq my family was one of the strongest and most influential families in Soran emirate my great grandfather was a legendary fighter and mir’s right arm, the mir of soran emirate would send him on quests to kill kings and generals and i was told he was sent to kill one of Ottoman Empires ambassadors
So maybe he got it from there.

 

Thank you as i said it has been in my family for few generations and i am from kurdistan region of iraq

 

I hope I did not cause any offense, Ibrahim. I apologize. It is often helpful in research to have an idea of the general region that an object may have come from. Your family history is significant, and an important part of the spoon's story.

 

No worries non taken

 

Actually might be very helpful thank you

 

Judy.....you took the thought right out of my head!!!! But THAT’S ALL I know about it....I do agree a water ladle sounded like a good guess from it’s look, but from what others are saying guess I’m way off base!!! Well, at least I too can say HI and welcome to Antiquers, @Ibrahim Agha !!!

 

Thank you for the extra info, Ibrahim. It is always good to know the region it was found in so we don't have to guess too much.

Are you sure it was his? This looks like an interesting folk piece, but not of the finesse I would expect a man of your great-grandfather's prestige to own. And it is not the kind of thing you would take home as a trophy, especially since the Ottoman empire was full of precious metals and gemstones.

Just wondering, is there any Iranian or Afghani connection in your family?

 

Hi Aquitaine........It does remind me of Scandi pyrography, although the design seemed unlikely.

Given the OP's name, it did seem more likely to me Middle Eastern, and the question of provenance did come to mind, but I did not ask....Mitt Fel.