Beautiful Early School Slate with Hand-Carved Pegs and Initials on Both Sides Chinese bronze enameled box Head is about 3" tall

Head is about 3" tall

with an expression that seems both surprised and keenly alert

made of an old shell casing

and there is nice all over cracking to the surface of the  bark on the back

I love that the maker of this sign chose to write piggy instead of just pig

Beautiful Early School Slate with Hand-Carved Pegs and Initials on Both Sides Chinese bronze enameled box Head is about 3" tallI don't think I'll ever get over my love of beautiful antique school slates, in significant part for the fact that almost as much as any other sort of object they bear their entire history of use and ownership on their surfaces. This I think is a very old one, late 18th early 19th century I would guess, framed in walnut I believe and with finely carved wooden pins holding the corners together. Into one long edge on one side are the initials JEF, and