Colorful Wooden Abacus with Nice Old Paint vintage Mexican I've seen some early carved

I've seen some early carved print blocks

and then looping and spiraling all over the face of the brush in a seemingly improvisatory manner

the other resting on his knee

or a bird of paradise would be pretty fabulous in it too

at a recent estate sale

Colorful Wooden Abacus with Nice Old Paint vintage Mexican I've seen some early carvedThough I realize there are not many abacus users these days, I really love them as objects and occasionally I come across one I can't resist, like this one. I'm not sure the maker but surely 1950s 60s or so, with great color, great form, and great aging to the paint. This one was certainly made as a teaching toy for children, but it could be coopted to serve as a weekly or monthly tallying device for all sorts of things (i. e. green equals good deeds