Wooden Piece Carved With Dragons. China, Ming Period Or Earlier.

Wooden element with wide mortises. The wood is very heavy and dense, very dark brown with hints of burgundy, and naturally furrowed with claw-like cracks in which golden flakes can be seen. The Chinese would call this particularity of certain woods "dragon scratches". It may be purple sandalwood, but only an expert can confirm this. One side is carved with dragons surrounding the sacred pearl. The dragons are depicted in a very ancient manner and do not correspond to either Qing or Ming dragons. They have no mane, beard or claws, vegetal appendages, no scales and short, forward-facing horns. We think they are Yuan or earlier. There appear to be traces of pigment in the hollows, but these may only be concretions. What was the function of such a solid, heavy building element? Too heavy for lumber or for a palanquin. An old collector's label states that this is a Chinese ship's anchor. We thought this was fanciful, but after some research, it seems that Chinese river ships did indeed use wooden anchors, sometimes weighted down with stones. Our piece of wood, given its curvature, weight and the sturdiness of its fixing mortises, could indeed be part of one of these anchors. Southern China. 15th century or earlier. Extremely rare, if not unique. Much better in reality than on the photo. Beautiful patina, no parts redone, worn. 137cm x 37cm thickness: 10cm weight: 17kg.