SOLD Most Tender and Poignant 19th Century Hand-cut Iron July 4 Stencil antique molding and stems and protozoa

and stems and protozoa

Something super satisfying about these coats

with a pretty terrific engraving opposite the title page

as if looking toward the future and imagining a time when the ancient Japanese sport of Sumo wrestling

or just to add to the box collection

SOLD Most Tender and Poignant 19th Century Hand-cut Iron July 4 Stencil antique molding and stems and protozoaA humble thing but this is truly one of my favorite finds ever. The combination of the very old and weathered iron and the loss lack of a center to the "U" (and absence of a Y, too) and that freehand cut 4 floating above, off on its own, feels exactly right compositionally, symbolically, metaphorically, etc or representing Independence Day. Singularly and tenderly constructed, improvisational feeling but emphatic, eroding but enduring. For me this one