Antique Hand-forged Iron Quilting Clamp with Folky Heart (One of Two More Just Found) large tramp art box with very thick and saturated

with very thick and saturated color

with the silver plate polishing up nicely

top (fifth) layer

but I very much like that a box speaking to the passage of time would show a little craquelure

Antique Hand-forged Iron Quilting Clamp with Folky Heart (One of Two More Just Found) large tramp art box with very thick and saturatedThe is a 19th century hand forged iron quilting clamp, with one of this sort often referred to as a "heart clamp" for the heart shaped finial on the screw. It would have been used for clamping the fabric layers of a quilt (top, batting, backing) to the rails of a frame while working it, sparing the quiltmaking from laborious pinning, etc. Once a month I go up to midcoast Maine for a show, and once a month, for a few months now, I bring home an old