This charming and tender couple have been for many years in a very important collection of a friend of me and apparently want to continue together. The Wolf is carved in one-piece of ebony, the head is 5cm high x 6 cm to the side x 3,5 wide. The shaft is carved with dots, there is a bimetal ferrule and the O.L is 93 cm, with no cracks or chips the condition is perfect.
The Sheep adorned with glass eyes, is 4,5 high x 4 cm to the side x 3 cm wide. It is wonderful carved in ebony and the snout carved in ivory, it is skillfully inserted in the ebony and it is on top of a slender ebony shaft with a 1 cm high silver collar and a metal ferrule, the O.L. 85 cm, without chips or cracks, the condition is perfect.
Sheep have been domesticated for probably 12000 years. Sheep are symbols of the simple goodness we bring to life when we have the desire and affection to do good for others and to be good ourselves. Such goodness is gentle and patient, just like sheep, but needs to be protected from attack by other selfish parts of our character that can easily destroy our desire to do good for others. This can be seen in the way a shepherd is able to bring a flock of sheep together to protect and guide it and rescue those ones that have gone astray. In the Bible flocks of sheep were often a sign of material wealth just as we can be spiritually rich if we bring together all sorts of good affections in our lives.
Wolves function as predators and hunt in packs and have featured in the folklore and mythology of many cultures throughout history. They can move very quickly and cover up to 5 meters in one bound which can make them the deadliest enemy of a flock of lambs or sheep which they quickly snatch and kill. Thus the wolf is a symbol of a sudden desire and delight for evil which quickly wipes out our true good affections. We can also be ‘wolves in sheep’s clothing’, an image from the Bible, when we pretend to be good and kind people on the outside but inwardly are like ravenous wolves. * http://www.spiritualwisdom.org.uk/animal-symbols.htm