u/Jasbach

Hi everyone. I'm posting from Latvia, where this rocking horse currently lives. It belonged to my grandfather, who acquired it in India. The family story is that it once came from a royal household, a Raja's, but there is no documentation to support that, and I'm treating it as unverified.

I'm hoping the community can help me with three things: figuring out what region of India it likely came from, roughly how old it is, and what it might be worth.

Here are the details I can give you. The horse is solid carved wood on a bow rocker-style base, meaning the legs attach directly to curved wooden rails. The paint appears to be original and is heavily distressed throughout, olive green on the body with red on the rockers and harness area. There is an elaborate carved breastplate with a layered medallion and beaded motifs. No maker's marks anywhere on the piece, including the underside.

The decorative style, particularly the carved breastplate, the collar layering, and the upright ear shape, looks consistent to me with Rajasthani or northwestern Indian folk art, possibly related to the Marwari horse tradition, but I am not an expert and could easily be wrong about that.

The photos attached show the front, back, and both sides. Happy to photograph any specific area in more detail if it would help narrow things down.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Before anyone flags this under the furniture rule, this is a one-of-a-kind hand-carved folk art piece with a provenance story tying it to Indian royalty, so I believe it fits here rather than the furniture rule. Happy to be corrected.

Here's the story. My grandfather acquired this rocking horse in India in the late 90s and passed it down through the family with the claim that it originally belonged to a Raja. No paperwork exists to back that up; it's purely oral family history, but I'm not dismissing it either.

The piece itself is a large, solid carved wood rocking horse on a bow rocker base. The paint is original and heavily distressed throughout, olive green on the body and red on the rockers and harness. The carved breastplate is particularly detailed, with layered medallions and what look like beaded or bell motifs running across the chest and collar. No maker's marks, stamps, or signatures anywhere, including the underside.

Based on my own research, the decorative style, especially the breastplate carving and the upright ear shape, looks consistent with Rajasthani or northwestern Indian folk art, possibly connected to the Marwari horse tradition. It is likely over 100 years old, but I cannot confirm that without a proper appraisal.

The photos attached show multiple angles. No marks to photograph, unfortunately.

The horse is currently in Latvia. I'm genuinely trying to understand whether this is worth pursuing through a specialist auction house or whether the lack of provenance documentation makes that pointless, and I should look at selling it locally.

Any help with a realistic valuation range is much appreciated.