A carved wooden piece depicting dragons China, Ming dynasty or earlier

This wooden piece is carved with wide mortises. The wood is very heavy and dense, a very dark brown with burgundy undertones. It is naturally furrowed with cracks resembling claw marks, in which golden flecks can be seen. The Chinese would call this characteristic of certain woods "dragon claws." It is possible that it is purple sandalwood; only an expert can confirm this. One face is carved with dragons surrounding the sacred pearl. The dragons are depicted in a very ancient style and do not correspond to either Qing or Ming dynasty dragons. They have no mane, no beard, and no claws; they have vegetal appendages, no scales, and short horns pointing forward. We believe them to be in the Yuan dynasty or earlier. There appear to be traces of pigment in the hollows, but these may only be concretions. What was the function of such a solid and heavy structural element? Too heavy for timber framing or a palanquin component. An old collector's label states that it is a Chinese ship's anchor. We thought this was fanciful, but after research, it appears that Chinese river vessels did indeed use wooden anchors, sometimes weighted with stones. Our piece of wood, given its curvature, weight, and the robustness of its mortises, could indeed be a component of one of these anchors. Work from southern China. 15th century or earlier. An exceptionally rare, perhaps unique, object. Much better in person than in the photograph. Beautiful patina, no repairs, worn. 137cm x 37cm, thickness: 10cm, weight: 17kg.