Cool Old Brass Button Polishing Guard (or Excellent Stencil) Take Takei This mid-century Italian pottery vase

This mid-century Italian pottery vase is a real stunner

I think it seems both quintessentially early 1980s and also timeless

Signed Norm C

This one--made of what appears to be ebony

just a bit of loss of gold on her fan and a few other minor scrapes here and there

Cool Old Brass Button Polishing Guard (or Excellent Stencil) Take Takei This mid-century Italian pottery vaseWhen I spotted this, my first thought was that it would make a great line making and design tool. When I learned that it was used for polishing buttons, I liked it even more! C. 1910 20's, it would particularly have been used for polishing buttons on uniforms, with the "teeth" of the guard closing tightly around five buttons at a time, while protecting the fabric of the coat or jacket to which they were attached. Really a smart design I think, which