Earlyish 20th C. Hand-carved Folk Art Snake in a Book Shaped Box deer crossing fence who signed and dated this

who signed and dated this in 1997

The hand-written caption appears to me to read "Beauty chastened by amnesia" --- I may very well be making that up

and paint or marker highlighting nostrils and mouth

as if it has been walking around for the past 150 years or so

(It really doesn't

Earlyish 20th C. Hand-carved Folk Art Snake in a Book Shaped Box deer crossing fence who signed and dated thisThis folk art snake in a box, American, earlyish 20th c. I believe, is larger and more substantial than most I have seen carved I believe to pass for a book on the shelf and quite a satisfying one to release by sliding the lid! (And the wear to the paint on the lid where the snake hits it as it completes its emergence tells us it has been opened many times!) Great paint on the snake, with orange spots against black and red inside the mouth, plus