Hello friends. I am an Orthodox artist and amateur iconographer. 

I have a friend who is a university historian and studies old Mexican folk art and religious art. He often travels and finds artwork for his university museum. He came across this item in his travels and it interested him, but because it's outside of his scope of study, he gave it to me, knowing it was Orthodox or at least Orthodox-inspired.

My friend says the patina and oxidation seem genuinely old, possibly anywhere from 100-300 years old. Beyond this, he could not tell me.

I have shown it to several iconographers and a priest, but it's been a bit of a puzzle to identify because some aspects are not typical of any "type" of carving we know of.

It is an oval wooden carving, around 4 inches in length, surrounded by what appears to be an iron hoop.

As you can see, one side shows a fairly accurate icon of the baptism of Christ, with river, angels, and Holy Spirit in the form of a dove.

On the other side, a mystery saint. There is no inscription anywhere that I can identify. The saint has a long, pointed beard, is holding a gospel book, and seems to maybe have an orarion hanging below his belt with a cross? 

The loop at the top suggests it was meant to be hung. It is not an expertly carved icon, but it is not a poor folk piece either. The carver seems to have been at least somewhat practiced in his work. 

One iconographer I showed suggested it may be from around the Carpathians or Balkans. Another suggested that it may possibly be from a Catholic country but inspired by Orthodox artwork - maybe an Eastern/Byzantine Catholic.

Any educated guesses are very welcome. Thank you for your thoughts.

Mystery icon object - help identify