Rare, Unusual Early Rubber Alphabet Blocks antique paper sampler come to dust

come to dust

darker on one side toward the tail

yellow and pinkish birds -- one on each side of the vase -- at first seem more like abstract passages than figurative forms

and the box too has lost one top edge and features a hairline split along one side of the lid

only to be made better filled with a few violets

Rare, Unusual Early Rubber Alphabet Blocks antique paper sampler come to dustI think these are way cool, and great looking, and I have never seen, and can't find, another set like them. They're made of rubber, which is pretty firm but a little squishy too, with embossed letters and numbers on all sides. I love the bleed on the green especially, and the crusty surface of the rubber all over and they sit in a great old box holder made of wood from old crates, joined with fat nails and I'm sure made for them long ago. Definitely