peasant scene wood carving

[chigato]

Hi, found this at a sale. I tried researching but no luck. It looks like oak and is in need of cleaning. At the bottom are some initials and a signature that looks like "S i C" and P. Mariot. Does anyone no what this is ? Is it real or plastic ? Thanks !!!!!!

[waywardangler]

Is it real or is it Memorex? It is not real IMO.

[chigato]

Is it some kind of molded plastic that is inserted into an oak frame ? It is old though. I hate to scratch it to see.

[mart]

There is a heavy varnish or similar on the piece but when I enlarged the top pic I could see the graining running across and following the lines on the back section so I think it may be a carved piece and just had the side pieces added for a frame !!  But that is not definate,, one can be fooled by pics !!

[waywardangler]

Molded plastic/resin.

[sapphire]

Found two references to work that is likely the same maker, Alain Mariot.....but not much else

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=331916

"The name "Alain Mariot" is carved on the front of the
base.  The word "Sic" is carved on the back, actually it's carved on
the dog's tail.  Also on the bottom there is a sticker that says "Made
in France sic, Hand Painted Handgemalt Decore Main"."

http://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/alain-mariot-wood-carving-guinness-96901186

"This is an old wood carving by Alain Mariot of a Barrel Cooper fixing or sealing a barrel of Guinness. You can see the artist's signature on the base of the carving."

[waywardangler]

The Worthpoint one for sure is not carved wood and I highly doubt the other reference is either.  These objects look real, real good to the untrained eye but a simple scratch test on the bottom will expose what the material really is...some type of resin or plastic.

Case in point, I was at an estate sale Saturday and picked up a large King Gambrinus statue from our past local brewery. By outward appearances it really looked like carved wood. It had all the flat plane carving features, chip marks, imperfections, etc. I carried it around awhile as I was unsure if I was buying it. If real carved wood it was a steal at $45. If resin cast, I wasn't so sure even if this was 35 yrs old. I ran into a friend who had bought one a few years ago and he paid $100 for his and said not many were made. So I looked at this under a table lamp they had on because light at estate sales is poor. It started to look more like non-wood to me so I took out a car key and scratched the base. A key will scratch across wood grain and break fibers, while plastic has no fibers. It was plastic but I bought it anyway.  It is large, about 18" high.