Antique Carved Folk Art Whimsy Rattle (with Extra Good Rattling Sound) wire bowl I'd guess with a cigar

I'd guess with a cigar in his mouth

please contact me for an accurate bid

where one can appreciate the detail

it also makes me think a bit of Meret Oppenheim's fur lined tea cup

surely with sponges in hand to create the marbleized effect

Antique Carved Folk Art Whimsy Rattle (with Extra Good Rattling Sound) wire bowl I'd guess with a cigarI've gotten more and more into these old whimsy or puzzle rattles, constructed of carved, interlocking bits like ball in cage type whimsies and the like, each one of these rattles is very much its own thing, reflective of the skills and ambitions of its maker. It was clearly not a master carver who made this one and of course it is its relative humbleness and crudeness that makes this one especially empathetic to me. What they were masterful in,