Set of 20 Beautiful 19th C. Milton Bradley Alphabet / Animal Blocks tramp art large box and love it for its

and love it for its great gestural drama--inherent to the porcelain figurine that is its subject

I've become quite a fan of late 19th century punch paper embroideries

I know for sure that it was very skillfully made

and with hand-painted text that

I imagine used by technicians working for the telephone company

Set of 20 Beautiful 19th C. Milton Bradley Alphabet / Animal Blocks tramp art large box and love it for itsI believe these blocks were from an early set made by Milton Bradley, late 19th century, which came in a wooden box labeled "Alphabet and Kindergarten Building Blocks." (Milton Bradley was an early producer of Kindergarten materials, including early Froebel Kindergarten blocks.) They are rare ones, and while this is not a complete alphabet, and there are dupes of D,Q, and W, I think they're super beautiful. Letters on one side, animals on the other,