Earlyish 20th C. Hand-carved Folk Art Snake in a Book Shaped Box deer crossing fence as if it has been

as if it has been walking around for the past 150 years or so

which could be cleaned

and paint or marker highlighting nostrils and mouth

The hand-written caption appears to me to read "Beauty chastened by amnesia" --- I may very well be making that up

My favorite drawings are the old later on in the bunch where his hand loosens up and he seems to find great joy drawing flowers and trees and clothes hanging on a clothesline

Earlyish 20th C. Hand-carved Folk Art Snake in a Book Shaped Box deer crossing fence as if it has beenThis folk art snake in a box, American, earlyish 20th c. I believe, is larger and more substantial than most I have seen carved I believe to pass for a book on the shelf and quite a satisfying one to release by sliding the lid! (And the wear to the paint on the lid where the snake hits it as it completes its emergence tells us it has been opened many times!) Great paint on the snake, with orange spots against black and red inside the mouth, plus