MOTHER, Extra Folky Old Match Stick Tramp Art Box with Polka Dot Interior and Rich Patina standing figure and very early ones certainly

and very early ones certainly most of all--so beautiful

" late 18th/early 19th c

The striking image here I believe is specifically of a German observation balloon being attacked by British planes during WWI--poetically described in the handwritten annotation on this real photo postcard as "Observation balloon on fire

20 inches tall x 8" wide x 1" deep (24" tall x 9 3/8" wide when mounted on stand)

better in person and changing as the light hits the silver and gold foil

MOTHER, Extra Folky Old Match Stick Tramp Art Box with Polka Dot Interior and Rich Patina standing figure and very early ones certainlyThere are neat and crisp match stick boxes and then there are soulful old folk art boxes constructed of matchsticks, and this is very much the latter. I know match sticks creations were often made in prisons, though not exclusively this one, with cross at center and dedicated to MOTHER, has the feeling of prison art to me, but I don't know for sure. An old one and a very folky one whatever the case, with those flowers to either side of the the T in