Lewis Smith Caboose, Ink and Crayon on Graham Cracker Box Cardboard handpainted snuff box with some of his strings

with some of his strings long ago snipped but still attached (they would pull right out should one desire to remove them

I've seen some making use of walnut shells

The name of the species--in this case it looks to be "Lycoperdong erunatum" is incised on the bottom of the piece

Sight: 2 9/16" x 2"

owned by a Louise Popeney and started in 1881

Lewis Smith Caboose, Ink and Crayon on Graham Cracker Box Cardboard handpainted snuff box with some of his stringsOne more often sees Lewis Smith's drawings of women boxers and wrestlers and diners, but the first love of the the self taught Ohio artist (1907 1988) was trains, the subject of his earliest, very detailed drawings, dating to the 1920s and it was a lifetime railroad pass that allowed him to travel beyond the family farm in rural Ohio to pursue his other subjects. He returned to the train in this later work, c. 1980s I believe, ink and crayon on