Very Wonderful 19th Century Paint Decorated Treen Book Box with Slide Opening, Signed Mark Bailey victorian seashells and wonder about jerky Bruce

and wonder about jerky Bruce Cobb

Lovely penmanship in black ink

9" t x 5 1/4" w x 3" d and in excellent vintage condition

Three of his legs move as well as his tail

Very Wonderful 19th Century Paint Decorated Treen Book Box with Slide Opening, Signed Mark Bailey victorian seashells and wonder about jerky BruceA rare find and a real beauty, found in upstate NY. This is a small, paint decorated, folk art book shaped box, carved from one piece of wood, with a slide opening on the long side. It feels close kin to a spruce gum box, but the slide on those is typically on one short end, and they tend to be a bit larger and this feels to me a bit earlier, c. 1840s I believe. With this gorgeous wide band of rich mustard paint across the near top of the spine for