SOLD Like a Theorem Painting, 19th Century Hand-carved Book Shaped Box with Hand-carved Basket of Flowers drawn on outfit concealed when well-fitting lid is

concealed when well-fitting lid is on

in period frame

which strikes me every time I look at it

These vessels were designed to hold oil and are understood to have been used in a number of different ways in funerary ritual: burned with the body in cremations

SOLD Like a Theorem Painting, 19th Century Hand-carved Book Shaped Box with Hand-carved Basket of Flowers drawn on outfit concealed when well-fitting lid isI found this one in southern Maine, purchased from the same dealer as the green and white painted game board listed today. My first thought spotting it was of mid 19th century theorem paintings, and also reverse glass paintings of the same period really, in what form of folk art did baskets full of blooming flowers not appear???! And yet, I can't recall seeing a carved version so close in manner and spirit to those as this, and I find the carving here