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.

Home > Sculptures > Carvings > Page 23

Antique Carvings

486 items · page 23 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.

19th century

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Large 19th Century Marble of a Slave Woman by Pugi

From Judy Fox Antiques

£4,500

FOR SALE

sculptures

16th century

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Superbly Carved Large Mid 16th Century Continental Limewood Figure of St. John the Baptist

From LVS Decorative Arts

£8,250

FOR SALE

sculptures

Early C20th Carved Wood Cricketer - Life Size

1900 - 1920

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Early C20th Carved Wood Cricketer - Life Size

From Gary Wright Antiques Ltd

£3,750

FOR SALE

sculptures

A Chinese Carved Soapstone 'Chi Dragon' Seal Qing Dynasty

19th century

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A Chinese Carved Soapstone 'Chi Dragon' Seal Qing Dynasty

From Sandbanks Antiques

£350

FOR SALE

sculptures

16th century

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Pair of 16th Century Carved Oak Saints

From Treaders Collectables

£12,000

FOR SALE

sculptures

A Very Fine Example of a Baga Nimba Shoulder Mask Good Patina and with Pigments

1900 - 1920

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A Very Fine Example of a Baga Nimba Shoulder Mask Good Patina and with Pigments

From Gerard Robinson Fine Art and Antiques

£385

FOR SALE

sculptures

Antique Carved Hardwood Chinese Fisherman Figure

1900 - 1920

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Antique Carved Hardwood Chinese Fisherman Figure

From John Howkins Antiques

£345

FOR SALE

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19th century

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19th Century Carved Stone & Gold Leaf Statue from South East Asia

From The Old Cinema

£850

FOR SALE

sculptures

Chinese Hetian Jade Lotus-form Cup, Late Qing / Early Republic, C.1880–1920

19th century

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Chinese Hetian Jade Lotus-form Cup, Late Qing / Early Republic, C.1880–1920

From Gillers Antiques Ltd

£9,000

FOR SALE

sculptures

A Rare Chinese Carved Hardstone Ceremonial Vessel Qing Dynasty

19th century

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A Rare Chinese Carved Hardstone Ceremonial Vessel Qing Dynasty

From Sandbanks Antiques

£495

FOR SALE

sculptures

Odd one-offs turn up: a cork model of an Indian temple, a leather life-size horse, a milliner's head, and an Inuit kayak group in sealskin, wood and bone.

Pair of Antique Carved Lion Bookends, English Pine, Georgian Revival, Edwardian

1900 - 1920

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Pair of Antique Carved Lion Bookends, English Pine, Georgian Revival, Edwardian

From London Fine Antiques

£725

FOR SALE

sculptures

19th century

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Pair of Fine 19th-century Carved Foo Dogs

From Colton Antiques

£1,750

FOR SALE

sculptures

Superb Japanese Edo (Early 19thc) Gilt Wood Statue, Amitabha Buddha

19th century

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Superb Japanese Edo (Early 19thc) Gilt Wood Statue, Amitabha Buddha

From Antik Dragon Japanese & Other Fine Art

£245

FOR SALE

sculptures

19th century

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Chinese Figure

From David Robinson Antiques

£190

FOR SALE

sculptures

Pair of Grand Tour Marbles of Alcibiades Hounds

19th century

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Pair of Grand Tour Marbles of Alcibiades Hounds

From Jake Wright Antiques Ltd.

£1,450

FOR SALE

sculptures

A Victorian White Marble Relief of Two Nudes

19th century

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A Victorian White Marble Relief of Two Nudes

From Kendall House Antiques Ltd.

£1,600

FOR SALE

sculptures

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Antique Carvings

Large 19th Century Marble of a Slave Woman by Pugi

Superbly Carved Large Mid 16th Century Continental Limewood Figure of St. John the Baptist

Early C20th Carved Wood Cricketer - Life Size

A Chinese Carved Soapstone 'Chi Dragon' Seal Qing Dynasty

Pair of 16th Century Carved Oak Saints

A Very Fine Example of a Baga Nimba Shoulder Mask Good Patina and with Pigments

Antique Carved Hardwood Chinese Fisherman Figure

19th Century Carved Stone & Gold Leaf Statue from South East Asia

Chinese Hetian Jade Lotus-form Cup, Late Qing / Early Republic, C.1880–1920

A Rare Chinese Carved Hardstone Ceremonial Vessel Qing Dynasty

Pair of Antique Carved Lion Bookends, English Pine, Georgian Revival, Edwardian

Pair of Fine 19th-century Carved Foo Dogs

Superb Japanese Edo (Early 19thc) Gilt Wood Statue, Amitabha Buddha

Chinese Figure

Pair of Grand Tour Marbles of Alcibiades Hounds

A Victorian White Marble Relief of Two Nudes

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