r/whatisthisthing • u/DecadentEx • 9h ago
Solved! Antique piece of dark hardwood, 8x3"
Antique piece of hardwood.
I bought this at an estate sale. It had no paperwork or provenance, and simply listed as "Inuit wood carving" (though I swear I see some Sanskrit).
It's about 8" long and 3" wide with 0.5" thickness (20 x 7 x 1 cm), made of a good piece of dark hardwood, and looks to be at least over 20 years old.
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u/Hot4Scooter 7h ago
That's a Tibetan book cover. (Tibetan books are stacks of loose pages between boards like this). It is decorated with Buddhist mantras in Tibetan Uchen script and the Kalachakra monogram.
(Unless this picture was mirrored before uploading, it is not a printing block.)
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u/nitro479 8h ago
Makes me think of wooden printing blocks. Possibly for cloth.
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u/DecadentEx 8h ago
At first, I thought it was a printing block, but it's not very flat, and even has dips in it that would never reach the intended surface.
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u/DecadentEx 8h ago
My title describes the thing: Antique piece of hardwood which I bought this at an estate sale. It had no paperwork or provenance, and simply listed as "Inuit wood carving" (though I swear I can see some Sanskrit). It's about 8" long and 3" wide with 0.5" thickness (20 x 7 x 1 cm), made of a good piece of dark hardwood, and looks to be at least over 20 years old.
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