Polly Este's Rewards of Merit, Southborough, MA, 1827! wooden inlaid box perfection

perfection

And then these four lovely fat roses surrounding her like a partial halo

great for the eyes

not long after it opened to the public

but it looks to me perhaps to be made of porcelain

Polly Este's Rewards of Merit, Southborough, MA, 1827! wooden inlaid box perfectionIt's a rare day that I come across a reward of merit or three as early as these, and even less frequently do I come across an entirely handmade one. Clearly Polly Este, or someone who loved her, was proud of her accomplishments, managing to keep these safe and sound and together for just about 200 years. I have a definitive record for Polly, born Aug. 30, 1818 in Southborough, Massachusetts, daughter of Solomon Este. She married Henry Sumner Wheeler