I just learned from an Instagram friend that this carefully drawn bug is in fact a louse! Which makes me love it 10 times more! A tiny tiny bug, a giant pest, and the stuff of nightmares especially for girls with very long hair (and their mothers who have to comb them out.) It really seems right that a single louse should be honored and preserved with this closely observed drawing, perhaps drawn with the aid of a microscope. I love how the six legs with thorn-like tips feel rather like the arms of dancing Shiva, ready to attach!
Framed as found in a old lemon gold painted wooden frame, which I think suits it well, with some wear to the paint very much to the good in my opinion. Framed: 6 1/8" x 5 3/4" x 3/4". One can't see the edges of the drawing through the frame and I have not opened it up; sight in frame: 4 1/8" x 3 7/8". Very good condition, late 19th c. I would think. A little glare in a few photos.
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