I recently learned that some wooden wreaths constructed of interlocking carved wooden bits were Scandanavian in origin, used for the preservation of yeast in beer and mead making. This is not one of those, but I have to imagine the former informed the construction of later "crown of thorn" type frames and whimsies or garlands like this one, which I might guess was fraternal (Masonic or Odd Fellows?) in origin, earlier 20th century. Definitely it was once all one piece, running 53 inches long, and perhaps even longer to make a complete loop, but I am not certain of that. As found it is in two parts, with one loose (half-broken) piece, the cause of the rupture I presume. (Someone smarter than I am might manage to rejoin the two parts--that's beyond my skill set!) As is, the smaller one is itself of a nice (manageable!) scale at a little over a foot, and the larger could probably run the whole length of a mantle (evoking flames in the fireplace as it does!) at about 40 inches. They are quite fun to arrange and to twist and curl, revealing different colors and facets as one does. In two places are painted what appear to be accession numbers: Acc. 6859.
53" long total (40" + 13 1/2") Approx 3" wide and 3" tall. Good condition, crisp and bright. There is one single piece in the larger that is shows a partial loss--noticeable really only when searching for it. One broken piece as shown in last photo which I believe is why it has split in two pieces. One wants to be gentle handling the longer one--it is a somewhat unwieldy!
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