Mary Austen's Mid 19th C. Alphabet Sampler with Many Birds hand-painted toy plastic 1 3/8" t

plastic 1 3/8" t

Rank badges (also called rank insignia or Mandarin squares) were used in China during the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911) dynasties to demonstrate the wearer's rank

so could be stuck into the ground or into a planter yet

and plenty of horses

This to me very much has the ethereal and otherworldly qualities of a daguerreotype of a painted portrait

Mary Austen's Mid 19th C. Alphabet Sampler with Many Birds hand-painted toy plastic 1 3/8" tA few losses to this one on the border, and to a couple of numbers but I really love those birds lined up in a row facing in the same direction, and another pair facing each other at the foot of a large tree. Signed by a Mary Austen, and my guess is that the "54" at center right is the year. I like samplers that roll a bunch of things together in what feels like an improvisatory sort of way, and this is very much one of those. 11" x 7 1 8". A bit of