SOLD Super Rare c. 1860s S.L Hills Double Sided "City Hall" Building Blocks marx metal stove and one could use it

and one could use it as a tasting or a serving spoon--or

and heart and star on the other

The level of relief and detail on this madonna is pretty spectacular

and also like it in its presumably unfinished state--a table mat I'd guess that never became  quite round

I'm always on the lookout for Burmese Yun-de lacquer

SOLD Super Rare c. 1860s S.L Hills Double Sided "City Hall" Building Blocks marx metal stove and one could use itThe best known (and highly coveted) blocks by S. L. Hill (NYC) are alphabet blocks from the 2nd half of the 19th century, some flat and double sided; others cubes, and the most striking of them incorporating the same rich red as these. Founded in the 1850s, Hill was the first American manufacturer to produce blocks in mass quantity, and in the 1860s expanded to include building blocks among its offerings, which I believe is the decade when these were