Old Carved Wooden Face with Rich Patina (Including Nailed Repair and Worm Holes) folk art baseball which feel more like tabletop

which feel more like tabletop sculptures than little carvings

Watercolor/gouache on paper or card

which angles toward his cocked elbow

made by Flash Chemical Co

For me of course it's all about this creature

Old Carved Wooden Face with Rich Patina (Including Nailed Repair and Worm Holes) folk art baseball which feel more like tabletopI don't know anything about the history of one, though it very much has the feeling of a death mask, and I find the carved face very beautiful. It appears to be very old, with worm trails visible across the flattened face of the nose, and on the flat back side, and an old repaired split along one side, joined by iron nails that have beautifully bled. It's the sensitively carved lips I find most beautiful, just very slightly open, as if getting ready