Concealing and Revealing, 19th C. Hand-painted Beauty on Papier Mache Cigar Case (No Lid) handmade sculptural soap dish which the other bees would

which the other bees would eat through to release the queen once she had been accepted into the hive

It's a bit hard to tell but it looks to me the eyes may be small inlaid pieces of glass with the pupils painted on top

*Peter Roe

or on a stand of some sort

However I have found no other like this one

Concealing and Revealing, 19th C. Hand-painted Beauty on Papier Mache Cigar Case (No Lid) handmade sculptural soap dish which the other bees wouldThis beauty was clearly painted for the delectation of a male, on the face of a lacquered papier mache box (with hinged lid that is gone) that would have served as a cigar case. This particular form of case seems to have been popularized by Stobwasser Fabrik Brunsieg of Germany, which stamped the insides of the covers so we can't know for sure on this one, but it is clearly of that type and dates to the mid 19th century. I love the openness of this