Book Shaped Brass Folk Art / Trench Art Snuff Box with Combination Lock Dials lettering set transporting and releasing a bee

transporting and releasing a bee or bees--and I really love this one

Oklahoma City and the Kansas City area

only to himself be tricked into sticking his head in the noose

Paint loss to the black top as evident

As a child of the 70s I have a particular penchant for pieces like this

Book Shaped Brass Folk Art / Trench Art Snuff Box with Combination Lock Dials lettering set transporting and releasing a beeI love this thing. My theory is that it is a folk trench art creation modeled on Dutch and English combination lock dialed snuff boxes of the 18th and 19th century (one photo at the end as example.) Those were more refined and the dialing locking mechanisms concealed, while here it's all revealed on the interior of the lid. I love it precisely for this homespun ness, and of course for being shaped like a little book, and for the pleasure of turning