Unbelievable (but true)

[knotty panda]

It would be my guess that the artist is Chinese or Chinese-trained. The Chinese were making carvings like this for hundreds of years. Trade with England on a large scale began in the 1700s. Here's one such example from, again my guess, 1800s. Many of these carvings depict normal daily activities. But what strikes me about this is the feet. They seem to be very much fashioned the same way. I just hope this picture is large enough for you to see the detail.

Josh, thank you for the enhanced photos! That piece just gets more and more amazing!

 

[Valeria101]

I would be very interesting to find out the story of the shell's provenance. At least as much as usually let in the open by musems, auctioneers...

Any chance for that?

The use of that species of shell is itself quite something for the time. Where could it be from? The kind of ornamental shells one can buy on eBay for a few cents were only present in haughty cabinets of curiosities (the earliest ones!). Wow!

 

[knotty panda]

Ooo, yeah! I was so caught up in the carvings, I FORGOT the shell is from Austrailia!

 

[Caitlin]

The feet are great on that one, but the date is wrong.....it will be fun hearing the truth after all our speculation......

 

[Josh]

I'm working on it... My friend is out of touch.

 

[Mandy]

What a find! I think it's so fun to see everyone chipping in to see how and where this piece came from. As for me, I have NO clue and I wish I could be more helpful :T

 

[danachit]

Thank you SO Much for sharing this! I am in awe of the talent involved in producing such a piece of art. Just amazing.

 

[Josh]

I spoke to my friend, the owner of the shell. The Louvre Museum in France thinks that it was most likely carved in France as the chip marks, under close inspection resemble others that were done there. They also are guessing that it was carved between 1140 and 1190, at the end of the Roman Era and the beginning of the Gothic. It was most likely brought from the middle east (China) after the first Crusade by land routes. Apparently sea routes were not yet established by then.
Cool, huh?

 

[knotty panda]

Yeah, very cool huh.