Antique Carved, Painted Wooden Chinese Figure on Base James Bone but most pages are quite

but most pages are quite clean

I have to think this boy and dog was done after a 18th century painting by Gainsborough or Bartholomew Dandridge or someone similar among which there are smartly dressed boys and dogs aplenty

and such kindly looks toward one another

I believe this originally came with a matching spoon/ladle

6" tall x 2 1/2" wide x 2 1/4" deep and

Antique Carved, Painted Wooden Chinese Figure on Base James Bone but most pages are quiteBased on a few other carvings out there of a very similar ilk, I am pretty certain this one is Chinese, likely depicting a scholar, with what seems most likely to be a scroll held in hand. I think it is quite an exquisite little thing, which feels rather ancient but I think most likely 19th century, and which appears to have been finely carved from one piece of wood, then hand painted, now showing primarily a combination of soft gray and gold. At some