Book Shaped Brass Folk Art / Trench Art Snuff Box with Combination Lock Dials pattern drawing like a perfectly bent elbow

like a perfectly bent elbow

14" x 9" x 11/16" with two eye hooks along the top for hanging

with those great wire stitches holding the bristles in place

(Maybe that's just me

and this great old egg basket is I believe the largest one of it's kind I've seen and can be configured in all sorts of ways

Book Shaped Brass Folk Art / Trench Art Snuff Box with Combination Lock Dials pattern drawing like a perfectly bent elbowI love this thing. My theory is that it is a folk trench art creation modeled on Dutch and English combination lock dialed snuff boxes of the 18th and 19th century (one photo at the end as example.) Those were more refined and the dialing locking mechanisms concealed, while here it's all revealed on the interior of the lid. I love it precisely for this homespun ness, and of course for being shaped like a little book, and for the pleasure of turning