One Gross Pen Wipers, As Found Box of Antique Leather Pen Wipes Benjamin Harnett painting cut close to the beautifully

cut close to the beautifully wavering thin black border of the drawing

" with a table in the foreground topped with what appears to be flowers in a vase and a fish on a platter (

I love the fact that making these reflected an increasing popular interest in the natural world and also a greater freedom for women and girls--an excuse to venture out on their own toward to the sea

provided the sun is out

has holes all around the perimeter that would have been threaded with twine or yarn in order to keep the slate from banging on the surface of a school desk--thus chalkboards like this are often called "silent" chalkboards

One Gross Pen Wipers, As Found Box of Antique Leather Pen Wipes Benjamin Harnett painting cut close to the beautifullyI've never come across a box of these before, nor had the dealer I purchased them from, who has seen just about everything! I did just happen (scrolling through ebay) to come across a tiny naive watercolor, mid 19th c., painted on a round of leather just like one of these making me think, as does the packaging, that this box full is about that old. I just love this as a found object, with excellent green paper "Penwipers" label on plain cardboard box