Make Do Folk Art Carved and Painted Two-Faced Baluster Man faces t I think this guy

t I think this guy was much loved and well cared for

but it's in great shape overall with lots of years of use in it yet--though plenty lovely just to retire for display

" which became the title of his autobiography

with a perimeter of braided sweetgrass on the face and side of the lid

I have not found another like it and really think it is quite a special piece

Make Do Folk Art Carved and Painted Two-Faced Baluster Man faces t I think this guyI could not resist bringing this piece into my care, at least for a bit! A great example of creative "make do" resourcefulness, it's an old stair baluster into which little faces were carved on both sides of one end, each with its own personality: one seeming almost on the verge of cracking a smile; the other looking quite distressed! (The eyebrows are my favorite.) And at the other end, what could definitely read as a phallus! Late 19th century or so