What is it????

[jtw1313]

Can anyone help on this one. Carved with a worm or something through it. From what I tried to find out I think it may be southeast Asian. I found a pic of similar looking wood in a gallery. I will put it in the last pic

 

[ticndig]

it's a pine knot. full of pine resin and great for starting fires.

 

[Red-Coat]

Looks to me like a Chinese 'rootwood' carving, although not a particularly good one. Traditionally, artisans would (and still do) seek out naturally gnarled and weathered pieces of old tree roots that already have a suggestion of artistic form. They then embellish that form with further carving to improve the suggestion by adding their own artistry or symbolism, and/or to turn the pieces into functional objects rather than just decorative ones. The pieces are usually then polished. Indeterminate age in my opinion... but not an old masterpiece,

 

[Back-of-the-boat]

It kind of makes me think of Juniper or Cypress wood. I would look up Juniper burls or Cypress burls. Not the cypress that grow in the swamps but more like The lone cypress type in Carmel Ca.