ANTIQUE STAMP PRINTING WOOD CUT PRINTING BLOCK TEXTILE STAMP
Antique, very rare, all wood, hand carved, nicks and chips in various places, museum quality. This is a true gem of a find that most definitely looks the part of a very primitive specimen from colonial days or not long after. From examples on the web which are all much newer it's got to be at least 150 years old. Wood deteriorates much faster than metal and bone and the fact that this is still around is somewhat of a miracle. I did a rubbing of the raised carved figures and can't figure out what they are. Perhaps dancing native Americans doing a ritual dance, or some kind of figurative animals. There's a raised wooden border around the exterior which makes me think that this wasn't used to make wallpaper. Perhaps it was to stamp the inside cover of books as a sign of ownership, or maybe it was a way of marking dispatched messages, possibly during the Civil War as that took place 150 years ago. Whatever it was, after working in a few museums and an art dealership, it's certainly one of the most curious things I've ever seen. The border is what makes it unlikely that it was used to stamp wallpaper. The original handle wasn't very thick so some more very rough hewn pieces were either made and nailed to it, or the original handles were cracking and nails were added to keep them in place.
MEASUREMENTS APPROXIMATE: 6" long by 5" wide and the depth with the added handle is 2 1/4" the wood at the base is 1 1/4"
.8 lbs
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ABOUT GREAT STUFF ANTIQUES.... We are a local Brooksville, FL shop that has been around for quite some time. We specialize in the not-so- ordinary collectibles and antiques, quite a large selection of "yard art" including a lot of decorator iron, concrete yard art & statuary. Some are just too large and costly to list on ebay. Please feel free to contact us if there is an item you just cannot find, as there is a chance we will have it. Long story short, we have items from the 1800's to some new, antique furniture, Cathy's favorite - shabby chic, actual train horns to hornets' nests, even a 6ft metal rooster, or 12 ft flamingo. So as they say, we have quite an array of interesting stuff, and as we unbox it, we will be listing it on ebay. We invite all to check out our GREAT STUFF in small town Brooksville, FL