Man in Bowler and Oversized Coat, View From Behind, Elusive (Pre-Magritte) Antique RPPC antique grammar book The wood on the face

The wood on the face of the chest is in very good condition

One tear to the tin at lower right corner

maybe 1870s-80s

as if revealing this child's inner light (or its being consumed from within by a pear-shaped ectoplasmic blob

It once held 18 tobacco plugs--brick-like masses of tobacco

Man in Bowler and Oversized Coat, View From Behind, Elusive (Pre-Magritte) Antique RPPC antique grammar book The wood on the faceI'm rather obsessed with this one, striking and evocative and rather iconic feeling, but which refuses to be pinned down. The back of the postcard dates it to the 1910s or early 20s, I believe (I took some time comparing this exact font and format to other real photo postcards and that seems to be the period of use), meaning it pre dates Magritte's earliest man in bowler painting by at least a few years, though those are what it immediately calls to