Painted Fish Stool

KILL OR BE KILLED Verified independent store

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The whole stool is the fish. The seat is the body seen from above, the fin edge runs the perimeter, the red eye sits at the head, and carved, painted faces appear at each leg joint where the legs meet the seat. The paint is heavily crazed and lifting, which here is record rather than damage, the surface of an object that was made to be used and then aged honestly. The origin is not certain, but the carving vocabulary, the palette and the easy slide between animal form and useful furniture all sit comfortably in the Southeast Asian folk tradition, where everyday objects are routinely given a creature's life. Show more