Rare and Brilliant! 1867 Crandall's Acrobats (Set of Four) in Original Box collectible There is a fascinating history

There is a fascinating history of wax modeling on the British blog

There are a few air bubbles in the glass

Such a charming wood carved and polychrome painted Madonna

but here this beautiful small footed bowl with coppery glaze I just stumbled upon in Maine

I had another 19th century snuff box with very similar inlay that I believed was made French Napoleonic prisoner of war

Rare and Brilliant! 1867 Crandall's Acrobats (Set of Four) in Original Box collectible There is a fascinating historyCharles Martin Crandall of Montrose, PA was an early American toy maker and produced some quite singular, and quite fabulous toys, especially notable for their use of a tongue and groove system for joining pieces. This Acrobats set, patented in 1867 and produced throughout the 1870s, makes exuberant and inventive use of that tongue and groove system, with a million different possibilities for configuring them, as every head or torso, arm or leg, can