Curious 1879 New York Carving with Many Initials (Commemorating the Life of Lunsford Lane?) low vase carved from a separate piece

carved from a separate piece of wood and attached by post

with fantastic beaded details and needlework

Or turn it upside down--it sits squarely on the ears and snout--and use it as a vase or even as a planter

including wonderfully detailed teeth and long eye lashes

running forever in place

Curious 1879 New York Carving with Many Initials (Commemorating the Life of Lunsford Lane?) low vase carved from a separate pieceA very curious one, looking a bit like a pipe and a bit like a whistle and a bit like a shoe too. The NC LANE carved into one side of it made me do a little searching for the name, and makes me wonder if rather than the initials of a first and middle name, the NC might instead stand for North Carolina, where there were some notables Lanes. Specifically, there was Lunsford Lane (1803 1879), his year of death matching the date carved into this), an