Carved religious figures from Albania
I picked up these two hand carved wooden figures from a local craft market in Kruja, Albania. The first is an angel figure (37x12cm) which think (?) is likely from an altar piece of an old orthodox church (of which many were destroyed during the communist era). It has two handmade nails in back and bottom, and some signs of woodworm. The other item is also an angel figure (31x20cm) of which the wing had been broken and was repaired. Not sure about its use, perhaps also coming from an abandoned church? I am interested to learn more about possible dating and origins/story and your opinion on the genuine character. I am aware that I will not be able to legally sell this item to a licensed dealer in e.g. Europe because it has no certified provenance. Am also not planning to as it is not part of my personal and private collection. Still I would be interested to find out what the approximate value would be if provenance etc could be legally established
Purchased these from craft market in Albania
Auction House
No
Thank you for submitting your item for appraisal. This appears to be a group of handcarved items from the balkans, Albania, Serbia or Romania would be quite likely. The carved putto once was placed on the wall of a smaller church or chapel in a rural area. The same applies for the carved angel pillar, both made by amateur artists in a provincial area. A production date within the 18th century to first half 19th century would be plausible. Rural areas were often seperated from changes in styles or fashions, therefore traditional representations were kept for much longer than in the larger cities. The flow of information was much slower than today. The estimate is based on similar religious folk art items sold at auction.
