19th Century Public School Certificates of Merit pottery bird dish imparting her with a great

imparting her with a great sense of strength and force (she rather reminds me of a figure from a Thomas Hart Benton painting

The box is pretty beaten up

The glass ones measure 5/16 on each side

and was pretty smart to paint the red border and ruled lines to bump up against with these wonderful black letters

19th Century Public School Certificates of Merit pottery bird dish imparting her with a greatI think these are just wonderful, and who doesn't know someone who could use a little recognition of their merits?! These were awarded to a young "Master Charley Geoppinger" in the late 1870s or so by a couple of different teachers two of them for a hundred merits, one for twenty, one for 15 and two for three. I believe these would have been saved to either cash in for some prize, reward, or further honor, but I am not certain precisely what. I really