Indian Wood Temple Frame

Brick-red and square, with rings of tiny carved teeth closing in on a keyhole window.

This carved teak temple frame is from Karnataka, South India, and dates to the late 19th or early 20th century. It is carved teak wood. Karnataka in South India has a long history of wood carving, and carvers there have produced doors, pillars, brackets and frames for temples and homes. Square panel painted a worn vermilion, with concentric bands of notches and dots stepping inward. A small cusped opening is cut through the center, and the paint has rubbed off at the edges and corners. It is 5 inches wide, 1 deep and 5.75 high.

Bright as a ledger cover, and as carefully ruled.