Poetic (and Anthropomorphic) 19th Century Wooden Bootjack with Hanging Hole Worn Through antique parcheesi and then this putty

and then this putty

Surface cracks (more pronounced in photos than in person) small ding and some flaws indigenous to the stone and to the carving as documented

increasingly so the further the distance—rather like life

There is a gold foiled "Made in Switzerland" sticker on the back of the box with the printed number 6349

or on the coffee table

Poetic (and Anthropomorphic) 19th Century Wooden Bootjack with Hanging Hole Worn Through antique parcheesi and then this puttyFound in southern Maine this week, I think this is really beautiful, and quite poetic, too. It is a 19th century bootjack, which was used so much that the hanging hole at the narrow end wore all the way through, leaving that open curve. I love the primitive elegance of the resulting form, which also reads like a body, arms (or open mouth, or claw) extending from one end, legs from the other. And turn it over, there's a face! The wood itself shows a