Circa 1860's folk art Spencerian calligraphy angel/cherub in mahogany frame

Nicely executed penmanship signed by O.T. Brown with a variety of polychrome inks.  An internet search of O.T. Brown shows other works by him and states he was a student of Eastman Business College in Poughkeepsie, New York who graduated in 1867. 

Folk art home made child's toy pistol

Recently bought for my collection. Has nice crusty paint and considerable signs of use and play - child size at 6 inches long. The barrel has carving and the whole piece is very rustic. It has a small split on the top of the barrel where there is a hole where a nail would have been placed for a sight. Hard to date but I would guess late 19th / early 20th C.

 

 

Antique folk art carved head / ventriloquist doll head

Just 4.25 inches tall with a freely moving mouth/jaw and lots of remaining paint.  Very expressively carved and painted with a tacked on nose.  Appears to be made of pine.

Antique folk art carved face

Measures 3.5 inches by 2.25 inches.  Hand carved with a prominent nose.  I do not know what the purpose was for carving this unusual carving, but perhaps, given the screw in the back, it was mounted to larger piece?

Prison carved folk art box / stamp box

The box is made from a solid piece of wood that has been hollowed out and the lid is carved with figures that have a naive lack of proportion.  4.5 inches by 2.5 inches by 1.25 inches.  Inside the lid it says, "Made by a prisoner at Joliet Penitentiary."  Inside is a piece of paper that adds it was made before 1900 and was great grandmother's - Mary Gross Obermann.

Circa 1940 pair of folk art carved toy pistols

A pair of toy pistols made in a child size of 6 inches by 3.25 inches for little hands to play with.  Nicely mellowed paint and signs of use and play.

Antique carved Kentucky / poppet doll

10.25 inches tall with original clothing.  Carved head and torso as well as carved arms and legs attached with cloth.  Tag that identifies it as "Tennessee Woman" and Mrs. E.H. Welker, Detroit" who, along with her husband, Eugene H. Welker, were art patrons who donated items to the Detroit Institute of the Arts.

Orlenia Ritchie and Annie Combs Williams are well known poppet doll makers from Kentucky who made and sold dolls in the 1920's / 1930's.