Featured Carved Table or Chair Leg - Origin?

This falls under the category of unusual, but interesting. I assume that it is a table or chair leg. It has a curved shape and is carved with three animal heads, two on the front and one on the back. I'm unsure whether the head is meant to be that of a mouse or bat or something else. It has eyes that are made of a hard cold substance, maybe stone, maybe glass. Does anyone recognize its style? Maybe simply folk art, but has anyone seen something similar? It think that it has age due to the appearance of the varnish

 

How tall is it?

 

Hi 2manybooks! It's 19" tall

 

It's interesting that you say that because that is what I initially thought, maybe Northwest coast (British Columbia). But how would it be used?

 

Nothing NWC that I know of.......

but it's striking.....and the way the paint has crazing ...makes it look old..

 

Maybe photos of the ends might shed some light? I suspect a product called crackle glaze was used to age this, not in all my years have I seen a real antique have such a finish without the wood being affected, of course it could be a finish I've not seen.

 

Hi 808 raver,
Here's photos of both ends. The top has a centre hole that I assume was meant for a dowel, which is why I thought that it was leg for either a chair or table. The other photo, of course, is of the bottom

 

I tend to agree. Totems go from recognizable artists and regions, to folk renditions, to tourist trade. I think it may be the 2nd. Could have been part of a furniture piece of some sort . . . looks to have some age IMO.

 

Looks more like your original thought of a furniture leg or mid section brace maybe. With this piece here coming in at just over 18” similar shape if not style. imo

 

Ditto. Made by someone with a love of quirkiness. Maybe the maker was even inspired by Robert Thompson, the Mouseman.

 

It looks like an old shellac coating, which would be typical of a folk art piece -


I agree with the chair/table leg theory. From the view of the top it looks like it was centered with a dowel ( I don't see evidence of any glue), and secured with a few nails.

Now all you have to do is find the other 3 legs.

 

May I ask where abouts in the world are you? The reason for asking is this maybe a finish I'm not familiar with, my experience is with shellac from the lac beetle or in other words French polish. I have antiques 200 years old finished with shellac and none go like this. I was trying to pin down the age by using the finish and this to me looks like the age has been created rather than happened. Maybe some other ingredient was used in the finish that goes like this over the years?

 

I am in the US. I have seen instances of this type of shellac deterioration on interior woodwork (doors, window frames, baseboards, etc.) before - definitely not high end "French polish" pieces of furniture. It was a simple mixture of lac dissolved in alcohol, painted on as a varnish. It was quite commonly used up until the mid 20th century.

https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Re...2000 years, shellac,1930 had a shellac finish.

 

Lac dissolved in alcohol is exactly the way French polish is made and that's how I make mine? I'm wondering if it's some sort of oil based varnish?

 

French polish as a technique involves multiple thin coats, with rubbing/buffing between coats. "French polishing consists of applying many thin coats of shellac dissolved in denatured alcohol using a rubbing pad lubricated with one of a variety of oils." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_polish#:~:text=French polishing is a wood,of a variety of oils.

It may be that the oils and/or multiple thin coats that are used in French polish create different ageing properties.

The shellac finish on household woodwork was a simpler process. As noted in the article I linked to, the deteriorated coatings remain soluble in alcohol, indicating this was the original solvent. Shellac was a very common varnish before the development of synthetic resins. I have also seen similar crazing/alligatoring on scientific instruments where tinted shellac was often used as a lacquer coating.

 

I've seen it on old Iroquois masks......

 

Interesting that you say that, because the item was found in the Montreal area, right in the heart of Mohawk/Iroquois country

 

Well ain't that the cats pyjamas ..... I was looking at the Kanawake reserve yesterday...
The Iroquois have been known to carve......... but I've not seen this among their historic items...????

 

I live about a 2 minute drive away from Kahnawake in a South Shore Montreal suburb called Chateauguay. I have to drive through Kahnawake every day to get into Montreal. I'm not sure where I picked this up, but it would have been around here somewhere....