Interesting Old Carved Whimsy with Ball on Chain Inside Cage bald wonderfully worn and smoothed with

wonderfully worn and smoothed with what surely has been a lot of handling

This one belonged to a George Birkenheld

very nicely done

What sold me on this 19th century snuff box is the juxtaposition between the  fineness of its decoration and the clearly hand-scratched "Mary

with no chips cracks or other flaws that I can see

Interesting Old Carved Whimsy with Ball on Chain Inside Cage bald wonderfully worn and smoothed withAnother in my never ending collection of whimsies, and this unlike another I've seen. Inside the nicely carved tall cage is a five link chain that is attached at one end of the cage interior but hangs loose inside, terminating in a ball. Pretty cool! And skillfully done, quite a long time ago I believe. It stands on end, making it a great one for just setting on the shelf, with a bit of the feeling of an hourglass, or a pendulum, trapped forever from