Sculptural Old Wire Calf Weaner felt and linen puppet some embossed

some embossed

When I spotted this set of four hand-painted porcelain demitasse cups

with a good amount of age

has holes all around the perimeter that would have been threaded with twine or yarn in order to keep the slate from banging on the surface of a school desk--thus chalkboards like this are often called "silent" chalkboards

The solid black forms were printed first

Sculptural Old Wire Calf Weaner felt and linen puppet some embossedThis would have been used as a muzzle for weaning calves, and one can still rather feel the presence of a calf wearing it but what an evocative thing now in its absence. The hand done wire construction reads like a line drawing in space, while casting terrific shadows, and I especially like that it can be configured and displayed in a variety of ways, like a mask or a basket, with ears out or folded in, the latter creating the appearance of eyes. 12 5