Boxwood sculpture with rare depiction of Hagar and Ishmael, signed with monogram, 18th century. In the 17th and 18th centuries in Flanders, in particular, many of these types of boxwood figurines were carved. Hagar is dressed as an oriental woman, at the feet of Ishmael there are plants that grow in the steppes. The underside is monogrammed: DEE ft, DCE ft, DGE ft (fecit)? Dimensions: 20 (h). 7 (w), 5 (d) cm. In good condition Ishmael was the first son of Abraham, the common patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, through his wife Sara's handmaiden Hagar (Genesis 16:3). According to the Genesis account, he died at the age of 137 (Genesis 25:17). According to biblical tradition, he is the ancestor of the Arabs. Within Islam, Ishmael is regarded as a prophet and the ancestor of the Ishmaelites (Hagarenes or Arabs) and patriarch of Qaydār. (Wikipedia)