Scarce 1860s Civil War Patriotic Cover, American Flag Perimeter red porcelain bowls one inlaid diamond

one inlaid diamond

Largest cat is 1 3/8" long and the smaller cats are 3/4" long

91/2" x 5 7/8" x 4" d

with imperfections to the bone I presume original to the piece

and carved from one piece of wood

Scarce 1860s Civil War Patriotic Cover, American Flag Perimeter red porcelain bowls one inlaid diamondI am sure there are other examples of this particular Civil War era "patriotic" cover out there, but I can't find one. 34 flags, representing the 34 states at the start of the war, and with each flag, due to inconsistencies in the inking and stamping, slightly different than the next. I find this very beautiful as an object, and richly poignant as a stand alone thing now, speaking to unity and division, boundaries and borders, freedom and constraint,