Photos do no justice to this tender thing, which is all about presence and patina and most of all for me the day and year and name carved into it in that best lettering. Constructed as a mold/part of a mold I believe, for what I'm not entirely sure, but it was significant and specific enough for someone to have carefully carved "July" into the face at top, and "21st" below, "1837" into the exterior edge along the bottom, and "Warwick" on the top of the opposite side. Perhaps connected to Warwick, RI, which was booming in the 1830s, a hub for summer homes and resorts as well as textile mills, and with that growth further fueled by the completion of the Stonington Railroad in 1837, connecting New York, Providence, and Boston. I don't know, but this feels to me connected to some specific historical moment, and is a beautiful thing now for having endured, much weathered and worn but still holding together at all four corners.
6" x 5 5/8" x 1 1/4". Gorgeous patina. One wants to be gentle with it, as the wood (pine I believe) has eroded some at the corners and especially on the Warwick side, but those old iron nails are still holding it together.
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