1883 Pansies and Books and Birthday Wishes Trompe l’Oeil Oil on Board carved bone owl and frog Each deck has 52 cards

Each deck has 52 cards

The box shows plenty of wear

indicating diagonal sliding of playing pieces

but no way could I resist this faux ribeye

The way my mind works

1883 Pansies and Books and Birthday Wishes Trompe l’Oeil Oil on Board carved bone owl and frog Each deck has 52 cardsIve been drawn like a magnet lately to paintings with solid black grounds so satisfyingly graphic, and amplifying the sense of significance and symbolic weight to the subjects portrayed. And I love any sort of troupe loeil, especially with books in it! This one appears to have been painted as a present, marking the occasion of the recipients birthday on an April 8. 1883. Curiously, the painted text on that page of the book seems first to have read