Self-reflexive 19th Century Watercolor Rose with Torn and Taped Stem profiles especially prominent antlers

especially prominent antlers

No major tears

I take that for an opium pouch at right

which fits in the smallest pocket

which continue to be used for applying gold leaf today

Self-reflexive 19th Century Watercolor Rose with Torn and Taped Stem profiles especially prominent antlersI am a bit obsessed with this one. It is a fine, c. mid 19th century watercolor of a rose, which was very precisely cutout and pasted down onto this piece of card (by it's original maker I believe). But in that cutting process, I presume, the paper stem of the watercolor rose tore, and so they pasted it down above. And so, the presence of that broken stem, which casts just a bit of a shadow onto the page, tells us not just that the rose itself was cut