Book Shaped Brass Folk Art / Trench Art Snuff Box with Combination Lock Dials pattern drawing with those great wire stitches

with those great wire stitches holding the bristles in place

and the shadowy golds and grays of the ground enhancing a sense of late-in-the-day-ness

) Clearly they were specifically made as a child's set

(Maybe that's just me

Book Shaped Brass Folk Art / Trench Art Snuff Box with Combination Lock Dials pattern drawing with those great wire stitchesI 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