Lovely c. 1800 Hand-drawn Patterns (Presumed for Embroidery), Ink on Watermarked Laid antique nutcracker Lifting off the lid reveals

Lifting off the lid reveals the basket's cedar bark lip as well as its fully saturated original colors

lend themselves to wide application

but I am really not sure

--by a Rollin R (I believe it reads)

His work gained recognition in the 1980s with its inclusion in exhibitions at the at the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts

Lovely c. 1800 Hand-drawn Patterns (Presumed for Embroidery), Ink on Watermarked Laid antique nutcracker Lifting off the lid revealsI believe this these drawings were made as embroidery patterns and I can very much imagine them executed in very fine silk thread. I love them rendered in ink though, on early watermarked laid paper, with wonderful passages of detail, tiny stars and crosshatching and squiggly lines with dots to either side. Lovely. Late 18th very early 19th century European I believe, with watermark detailed in last photo, which I have not researched. 12 7 8" x 7 3