J.P Justa, Joyfully Painted 19th Century Folk Art Wall Box
This wonderful antique two pocket hanging wall box shows plenty of wear, but for me that just adds to its very joyful, celebratory feeling--and of course I really love the name "Justa" front and center--Latin in origin and meaning "fair and upright." I would guess Pennsylvania Scandinavian or German, based on both the name and the manner of decoration, 3rd quarter 19th century I would guess. Wonderful old paint, hand-forged iron nails, perfectly wonky carved form to the back, and sturdy enough still to hang from the wall, though I might not put a ton of weight inside the pockets. (I had this one in my hands for a few minutes several years ago before selling it; happily the buyer, who has changed his collecting focus since, offered it back to me...and I must say when I unpacked it I fell in love with it again and found it even better than I remembered! And much better in person!) 12 3/4" t x 9 3/8" w x 3 5/8" d. Overall wear, a few cracks and surface wear as evident, but overall sound