SOLD 4:48, Unusual, Excellent, Rather Mysterious Old Painted Velvet Clock Pin Cushion curative recipes There is a small hole

There is a small hole in the top of the wood and another directly below it in the bottom

but it appears well attached

but in the case of this one it is completely about its formal properties--most immediately that hand printed paper cover

and I must say the vertically oriented composition with strategically arranged hanging fruits makes me wonder whether this wasn't meant as a nod to a nude torso of a woman

with some wear and aging to both the mirror and the wood as accurately documented in photos

SOLD 4:48, Unusual, Excellent, Rather Mysterious Old Painted Velvet Clock Pin Cushion curative recipes There is a small holeThis struck me as so unusual when I found it, and indeed I can't find any other example of old pin cushion with a stencil painted clock face like this out there anywhere. And what to make of the very specific position of the hands, marking 4: 48 precisely? One sometimes sees 19th century pin cushions made to celebrate a birth (particularly with messages spelled out in stick pins); perhaps the time here marks the moment of a child's arrival in the