Hand-painted Porcelain Ashtray with Pipe and Matches folk art lapdesk I believe it dates to

I believe it dates to the late 19th century or so

and I am very partial to wooden stacking toys

I believe he dates to the late 40s or so

I realized he is famous Canadian strongman Louis Cyr (1863-1912)

there is one missing button loop (the button is there

Hand-painted Porcelain Ashtray with Pipe and Matches folk art lapdesk I believe it dates toI've rarely met an image of a pipe I didn't like to me, they're all Magritte ian fellows speaking to The Treachery of Images! It doesn't hurt that a pipe's a pretty great looking thing, even more so when emitting a trail of smoke and accompanied by a two toned green book of matches tipped in orange! I'd be more inclined to hang this one the wall than use it as an ashtray, but it would be a fun one to set out for pipe smoking company, and or to