Antique Carved Burl Wood Bird, Presumed Native American Woodlands, Ex. Axtell Collection brass key More of these sweet old

More of these sweet old German Erzgebirge houses

that one was housed in its original wooden crate

but this early Valentine

perhaps newly betrothed (or just married

just inside

Antique Carved Burl Wood Bird, Presumed Native American Woodlands, Ex. Axtell Collection brass key More of these sweet oldA bit of a mystery, this bird, but such a beautiful thing, which came from the collection of "Smitty" Axtell, who was a great lover of carved treen objects. Carved of burl wood I believe, it feels to me Native American, bearing a strong resemblance to birds carved on effigy pipes and ladles, but I don't know for certain, and the reason for the holes carved down the back and up the belly is unknown, though it would seem likely it functioned as a tool