Mysterious and Very Wonderful Small Metal Cutouts, Presumed 19th Century French (Copy) linen gauze I really like its combination

I really like its combination of specific details and loose gestures

and once one has done so

as a lover of old penmanship I like the idea of having Spencerian pen nibs art one’s disposal—and this box is full not just of Ivison & Phinney nibs

with tiny spots of brown to perfectly portray the skin and subtle darkening here and there to suggest bruises

Subtraction

Mysterious and Very Wonderful Small Metal Cutouts, Presumed 19th Century French (Copy) linen gauze I really like its combinationThese are completely wonderful, but I do not know their original purpose. Perhaps they were votive offerings? I found an image of a pair of French embroidery scissors c. 1850s with one handle very similar in silhouette to the man here, down to his extended hand. And of course the dainty crossed feet of the marvelously silhouetted woman remind me very much of antique machinist made ladies legs calipers. They all feel a bit as if miniature templates for