Painted Shoe-Shaped Nearly Flat Folk Art Box 19th c smoke decorated tin 8" l x 5" d

8" l x 5" d x 3 3/8" t

More beautiful in person

and I can't help but to imagine a wife just out of the frame begging him to endure it

I think perhaps wanting to reclaim ideas of American patriotism

Painted Shoe-Shaped Nearly Flat Folk Art Box 19th c smoke decorated tin 8" l x 5" dThe paint on this unusual little shoe shaped box has nice age to it; I'd guess 1920s 30s or so, though maybe a little earlier than that. I love the long, nearly flat form, as if nodding to the elongated proportions of clown shoes, and the surprise of realizing the "lid" slides off to reveal a secret hiding place. Perhaps the upper and lower were once joined, I'm honestly not sure, but now they just fit together nicely, with a carve out in the