Columbia University 1910 Murad Tobacco Silk Runner, Framed wooden toy actually (based on the animals)

actually (based on the animals) appears to be the top of the piece: I believe it was once woven all the way to the end

and the overall effect it creates of glimpsing into a private world

Made entirely of natural (un-dyed) ash splint of varied widths

I believe from either the German Schwarzwald mountain region in southwestern Germany

exquisitely crafted brown and white vase by renowned California ceramist Leslie Thompson

Columbia University 1910 Murad Tobacco Silk Runner, Framed wooden toy actually (based on the animals)I purchased this piece because I loved the image of this pink cheeked runner in his white outfit and those brown shoes that don't look especially great for running! I've since learned this is a collegiate tobacco silk; dating to the early 1910s, these silks were issued by Murad cigarettes to entice smokers, college students specifically, to buy their cigarettes. For each college or university targeted, they issued a set of 10 of these depicting