Such a beautiful small 'furniture' piece, this is actually an early to mid-1800s inlaid walnut playing cards press. These are highly sought after and used in our time more for and as flower presses, but in their time, they were used to keep decks of playing cards flat between game nights. This is my prettiest one in ages, a contrasting lemonwood accenting walnut hardwood with such beautiful grain. It is 9 3/8" long, 4 1/2" wide - larger than most of these and would be fabulous for pressing flowers for crafts or making your own greeting cards. I think you can see how it works. For flower press, all you'd need is a stack of blotting papers cut to size, stacked. The wooden posts are beautifully worked, and the round disks move smoothly up and down. Tipped with 6mm carved ivory trim buttons at top. Bun feet at front and peg feet at back (might be replacements), It stands 6 3/4" tall.
Very good to excellent condition throughout, age and type considered. No chips, no cracks, no breaks to report. The super-micro bead wok is remarkable - beads are 1/2 mm diameter. Glass and metal beads, only a tiny few gone missing over the 180 to 160 years since made. An embossed paper outer border is also tightly in place and beautifully preserved. Clean and ready to use.
