19th C. Staffordshire Spill Vase with Doves and Snakes sanborn and carter the detail on the chair

the detail on the chair and of the caning pattern especially brings a lot of extra life and specificity to the portrait

and pelvic bones of what I believe are seated skeletons (really they look almost like they are riding bikes

)  As with many of his works in this series

though he also looks a bit as if he might be just-in from a long day fishing out in the rain or snow

19th C. Staffordshire Spill Vase with Doves and Snakes sanborn and carter the detail on the chairSometimes one wants something that feels like a bit of Rococo fun, plus I love a snake, this one about to steal an egg from the nest of this pair of doves in what one could read as a clash between good and evil. 19th c. Staffordshire, with hand painted details in gold and black and green. The form is that of a spill vase, typically kept on the mantle and used for containing splints, spills, and tapers for transferring fire, for example to light a