Antique Carved Folk Art Whimsy Rattle (with Extra Good Rattling Sound) antique trunk with craquelure

with craquelure

The end has come loose

and ready for bed

also called a "pencil overgrainer"--as one might imagine

Antique Carved Folk Art Whimsy Rattle (with Extra Good Rattling Sound) antique trunk with craquelureI've gotten more and more into these old whimsy or puzzle rattles, constructed of carved, interlocking bits like ball in cage type whimsies and the like, each one of these rattles is very much its own thing, reflective of the skills and ambitions of its maker. It was clearly not a master carver who made this one and of course it is its relative humbleness and crudeness that makes this one especially empathetic to me. What they were masterful in,