Stars, Moon, Sun, Arrow, ?, Fabulous Antique Heavily Decorated Folk Art Razors Box black woman 9" x 5 1/2"

9" x 5 1/2"

was produced in the 1980s

and I love there fact that the configuration of entertaining bodies of these two reminds me a lot of the form of a Charles Moore

plus death personified as skeleton with scythe standing over a figure in bed

and to my eye the sketches reflect a wonderful sense of warmth and familiarity

Stars, Moon, Sun, Arrow, ?, Fabulous Antique Heavily Decorated Folk Art Razors Box black woman 9" x 5 1/2"One of my favorite finds at the Rhinebeck show, purchased from a Maine based dealer who always has wonderful things. And the warm energy around this box is of a magical sort. I believe it was made as a box to hold folding straight razors, and I have a hunch it was the box of someone who delivered shaves for a living perhaps a train station barber, very common in the late 19th early 20th century, with the box feeling to me close kin to a folk art shoe