Book Shaped Brass Folk Art / Trench Art Snuff Box with Combination Lock Dials 1930s zanesville and holds four black lacquered

and holds four black lacquered coasters inside

credited with inventing the chalkboard eraser

I believe our Willis likely lived in Port Jefferson in Suffolk County

whose posture is everything--three-quarters reclining

Book Shaped Brass Folk Art / Trench Art Snuff Box with Combination Lock Dials 1930s zanesville and holds four black lacqueredI love this thing. My theory is that it is a folk trench art creation modeled on Dutch and English combination lock dialed snuff boxes of the 18th and 19th century (one photo at the end as example.) Those were more refined and the dialing locking mechanisms concealed, while here it's all revealed on the interior of the lid. I love it precisely for this homespun ness, and of course for being shaped like a little book, and for the pleasure of turning