It's a rococo revival style. It was first revived in the 1840's, and again at the turn of the 20th century, and reprised after Gone With the Wind brought it before the public once again in the 40's. Which really was a re-revival, focusing on the Old South, not the original European sources. A furniture vendor called Magnolia Hall was cataloging a lot of stuff similar (but not as nice as this) as late as 1985. I'm guessing this is from the last incarnation, but it is really good quality of carving. The 1850 stuff is exclusively rosewood. Your headboard appears to be walnut. Casey

Google "wooden automatron"....and whistling automaton....and carved drunk automaton.... There are lots and lots of similar figures out there....and variations on.....and they are priced all over the ball park....some selling for over $1,000....some not getting bids for $150. It seems the bird indicates that the figure whistles.....some have a battery to light the light post.....but all are very collectable....there are websites devoted to automatron collectors. do some searching!....make friends with some of the collectors and find out where to get it repaired.

Can't make out much from the photo. Is it wood?

Thanks for weighing in. We actually didn't quite know what to call it--what would you say? Also, he was thinking it was mahogany or walnut because it is dark on the other side, and I think his carpenter thought maybe it was one of those two?