19th C. Spencerian Calligraphic Ink Drawn Fish antique doll looks to me both like

looks to me both like a face and like a little turtle coming to the end of a long path

The line itself is really lovely

I have not found another like it and really think it is quite a special piece

And what a beautifully drawn tangle of stretching limbs and grabbing hands

portraying a spiritual metamorphosis of human into animal

19th C. Spencerian Calligraphic Ink Drawn Fish antique doll looks to me both likeOne sees Spencerian calligraphic drawings of deer and birds, especially, around, but rarer to come across a fish, and while this one shows a couple of tears along the bottom edge (which I've mended from the reverse with transparent archival tape), it strikes me as a perfect thing for a fisher person as well, of course, as for a lover of antique calligraphy, as I am. I really love the face on it too, looking a bit smug and self satisfied, perhaps too