Unusual Ball (on Pedestal) in Cage Antique Black Painted Carved Whimsy carved whimsy rattle the silver-plate polished right up

the silver-plate polished right up

(The tail and the ears make me believe it is a bear

A little roughness around the edges original to their making and a little wear to the paint but in good shape and very sweet

and a little bleeding around the red and black edges on the pips--all at a miniature scale (cards measure 1 1/4" x 1 3/4"

Unusual Ball (on Pedestal) in Cage Antique Black Painted Carved Whimsy carved whimsy rattle the silver-plate polished right upI've seen other whimsy "cages" with gothic sorts of spikes like this one, but I've never seen one where the ball sits on a pedestal inside of it, like a tee for a ball never to be hit! I believe this one likely dates to the late 19th early 20th c., and has definitely been knocked around a bit, with a few dings and paint loss around the sides, a small chip to one side of the "pedestal", and a little loss to what was surely once a sharp point at the