Naughty Old Carved Folk Art Man in Black Coat and Hat magic trick 12 1/2" across when flat

12 1/2" across when flat

Hiram Campbell Merrill  (1866-1958) was a Boston-born painter and engraver

with color illustrated cover and yellow cloth spine

I can't read more than a few words of German

In addition to the missing stitches and pin holes

Naughty Old Carved Folk Art Man in Black Coat and Hat magic trick 12 1/2" across when flatOne sees these old carved figures around now and then, with hidden pop up phalluses, but I don't think I've seen another I like quite as much as this one, whose black hat and coat and smiling, almost snowman looking face simultaneously belies and perfectly foreshadows what's in store when one pulls him apart! I can't help but think of him as a portrayal of righteous hypocrisy perhaps representing a puritanical late 17th century minister crying