I purchased this one from a wonderful dealer in Pennsylvania, and believe that is quite likely where it originated, early 20th century would be my guess, though it could be a little older than that. There is a tiny hole in the slide that once would have attached via string or fine wire to the snake inside (with stained black arching neck and wonderful little nailed eyes and iron tongue) and pulled it forth to deliver a surprise to the opener! That string is gone, so the snake is now a passive one, though is easily pulled forth manually and will stay in in a head-arching-up position for display, as shown in first photo. I love seeing the snake, but it is also just an excellent looking carved folk art book box when closed up! There is a tiny loss to the very end of the slide lid on one edge, which might prevent it working completely properly if one were to try to re-tie it again and, but one could try--though I think it is excellent just as it is.
4" t x 2 1/2" w x 1" d. Very good condition, nice patina, snake mechanism not working as described above. As noted, one small loss to one edge of slide lid, but it will close properly and hold tightly with a little care.Just a tiny bit of white showing on one side--I only noticed in photos, minor.
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