Schortmann SignHand-painted Sign-painters Antique Sign on Framed Wood Panel made in czechoslovakia and a quintessentially mid-century shape

and a quintessentially mid-century shape with narrow neck and wider lip

I am not certain of their age

These are punctuated with black Japanese characters

which is how the carved lock (which looks rather like a rudder) is secured and held tight via a knot on the opposite side of the box

but then slides open smoothly

Schortmann SignHand-painted Sign-painters Antique Sign on Framed Wood Panel made in czechoslovakia and a quintessentially mid-century shapeI've done some searching and found a number of Schortmann's from my neck of the woods near Boston, but I haven't been able to find anything about a Schortmann sign business, which I'd guess based on this sign operated in the early years of the 20th century, and if this one is any indication, must have made some pretty terrific signs! I love the palette shaped outline with brushes peeking through its thumbhole, and then the little "call me up" snuck in