What materials are antique carvings made from?

Wood dominates, with oak the most common named timber, then hardwood, walnut and the soft pale limewood used for Alpine figure carving. Stone is the other half of the category: marble and alabaster lead, with soapstone, serpentine, jade and limestone behind them. Small Japanese work here is boxwood, bone, antler or wood rather than ivory.

How old are most of these carvings?

Dealer-entered dates run from 1700 to 1950 on the listings that carry a clean year, and the largest single bucket is the 19th century. The decade buckets show a real late-Victorian to inter-war body of work, with the 1920s, 1930s, 1890s, 1910s and 1880s all well represented. Earlier pieces are a minority, though 18th-, 17th- and 16th-century carvings appear, and a handful of listings reach back further still.

Are antique carvings mostly English?

No. Nationality words in titles are led by Chinese and then Italian, so the two largest identifiable origins in this archive are Chinese work and Florentine alabaster. English carving is named only occasionally. Much of the European religious and architectural material is Continental and catalogued without a nationality at all.

Which subjects come up again and again?

Figures and busts first, then animals. Lions appear in 31 titles, bears in 27 and dogs in 21. Bears are almost a category in themselves, running from Japanese kibori kuma from Hokkaido to Black Forest examples made as double stick stands, and one lot is a set of fifteen miniature bears.

How large do antique carvings get?

Scale swings widely. The same archive carries netsuke a few centimetres across and life-size figures, some standing on their own columns. At the top end there are pieces measured at 93cm and 169cm, a marble bust on its pedestal, a 99cm pair of Kashmiri lacquered elephants and a Tibetan temple lion weighing 25kg.

Do carvings usually carry a maker's name?

Rarely. Only 44 titles say signed, and the anonymous oak and limewood religious figures are catalogued without a workshop or school attached. Just one name clears three dealers across the whole archive: Pugi, on Florentine alabaster and marble figures of women. About 109 carvings are listed on Sellingantiques in a year, and 195 different dealers have handled one, so no single specialist defines the field.

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Antique Carvings

488 items · page 15 of 31

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Hand-carved sculpture in wood and stone, sold as free-standing figures, busts, animal studies, panels and architectural fragments, made for churches, houses, souvenir trades and scholars' desks.

Highly Decorative Early 20th Century Chinese Gilt Metal Figure of Buddha

1900 - 1920

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Highly Decorative Early 20th Century Chinese Gilt Metal Figure of Buddha

From LVS Decorative Arts

£1,100

FOR SALE

sculptures

Late Gothic Carved Donor Figure, Upper Rhine, C.1500

16th century

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Late Gothic Carved Donor Figure, Upper Rhine, C.1500

From Peter Harris Clocks & Militaria

£3,800

FOR SALE

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A Very Interesting Japanese Wooden Carved Sculpture of a Geisha in the Nata-tsukuri Style.

19th century

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A Very Interesting Japanese Wooden Carved Sculpture of a Geisha in the Nata-tsukuri Style.

From Koos Limburg Jnr. Scotland

£750

FOR SALE

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Antique 19thc Burmese White Marble Reclining Buddha – Mandalay Period Temple Statue (49cm)

19th century

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Antique 19thc Burmese White Marble Reclining Buddha – Mandalay Period Temple Statue (49cm)

From Sandbanks Antiques

£4,500

FOR SALE

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19th century

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Large 19th Century Chinese Polychrome Painted Carved Wood Figure of Guanyin

From Hand of Glory

£895

FOR SALE

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A Spectacular Polished Yew Wood Sculpture of Interesting Form

19th century

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A Spectacular Polished Yew Wood Sculpture of Interesting Form

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£485

FOR SALE

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A Pair of Chinese Carved Hardwood Water Buffaloes Circa 1880

19th century

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A Pair of Chinese Carved Hardwood Water Buffaloes Circa 1880

From Robert Belcher Antiques

£1,450

FOR SALE

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Dogon Tribe African Carved Sculpture, Central Mali

1940 - 1960

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Dogon Tribe African Carved Sculpture, Central Mali

From M Cross Antiques

£300

FOR SALE

sculptures

Early Chinese Temple Figure of a Civil Official, Gilt & Polychrome Wood, South China C.1650 (Late Ming / Early Qing)

17th century

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Early Chinese Temple Figure of a Civil Official, Gilt & Polychrome Wood, South China C.1650 (Late Ming / Early Qing)

From Gillers Antiques Ltd

£4,800

FOR SALE

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Grand Tour, the Dying Gaul. Marble Figure Circa 1750

19th century

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Grand Tour, the Dying Gaul. Marble Figure Circa 1750

From Sovereign Antiques Of Nuneaton

£7,500

FOR SALE

sculptures

Among the oldest to pass through Sellingantiques are a relief catalogued as 11th century Northern Indian sandstone and a lot of pre-16th-century Egyptian deities and scarabs.

19th-c Chinese Polychrome Wood Buddha, High Relief Carving, Ritual Figure

19th century

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19th-c Chinese Polychrome Wood Buddha, High Relief Carving, Ritual Figure

From Gillers Antiques Ltd

£2,000

FOR SALE

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African Carved Hardwood and Bone Study of a Hippopotamus Circa 1920

1900 - 1920

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African Carved Hardwood and Bone Study of a Hippopotamus Circa 1920

From Robert Belcher Antiques

£765

FOR SALE

sculptures

A Large French Carved Alabaster Sculpture of a Female Playing a Lyre. Titled Mignon. Signed R.lusili

1900 - 1920

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A Large French Carved Alabaster Sculpture of a Female Playing a Lyre. Titled Mignon. Signed R.lusili

From Burgett Langfield Decorative Antiques

£2,950

FOR SALE

sculptures

A Finely Carved and Chunky Black Forest Wood Nutcracker in the Form of a Clenched Fist Circa 1880 to 1900

1900 - 1920

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A Finely Carved and Chunky Black Forest Wood Nutcracker in the Form of a Clenched Fist Circa 1880 to 1900

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£195

FOR SALE

sculptures

Fantastic Quality Large Antique Black Forest Carved Bear Double Stick Stand

19th century

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Fantastic Quality Large Antique Black Forest Carved Bear Double Stick Stand

From Unique Antiques by Emma Jade

£8,795

FOR SALE

sculptures

French Carved Alabaster Sculpture of a Female

1900 - 1920

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French Carved Alabaster Sculpture of a Female

From Burgett Langfield Decorative Antiques

£795

FOR SALE

sculptures

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Antique Carvings

Highly Decorative Early 20th Century Chinese Gilt Metal Figure of Buddha

Late Gothic Carved Donor Figure, Upper Rhine, C.1500

A Very Interesting Japanese Wooden Carved Sculpture of a Geisha in the Nata-tsukuri Style.

Antique 19thc Burmese White Marble Reclining Buddha – Mandalay Period Temple Statue (49cm)

Large 19th Century Chinese Polychrome Painted Carved Wood Figure of Guanyin

A Spectacular Polished Yew Wood Sculpture of Interesting Form

A Pair of Chinese Carved Hardwood Water Buffaloes Circa 1880

Dogon Tribe African Carved Sculpture, Central Mali

Early Chinese Temple Figure of a Civil Official, Gilt & Polychrome Wood, South China C.1650 (Late Ming / Early Qing)

Grand Tour, the Dying Gaul. Marble Figure Circa 1750

19th-c Chinese Polychrome Wood Buddha, High Relief Carving, Ritual Figure

African Carved Hardwood and Bone Study of a Hippopotamus Circa 1920

A Large French Carved Alabaster Sculpture of a Female Playing a Lyre. Titled Mignon. Signed R.lusili

A Finely Carved and Chunky Black Forest Wood Nutcracker in the Form of a Clenched Fist Circa 1880 to 1900

Fantastic Quality Large Antique Black Forest Carved Bear Double Stick Stand

French Carved Alabaster Sculpture of a Female

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