Step Back Cupboard, True Antique Salesman Sample/Apprentice Piece stencil painted playing cards which stack perfectly to fill

which stack perfectly to fill their perfectly preserved dovetailed box

where the silver of the tin shows through

as if to steady himself himself from being pulled into the vast unknown

There were a number of different makers of "Eye Ointment" in late 19th century England

Step Back Cupboard, True Antique Salesman Sample/Apprentice Piece stencil painted playing cards which stack perfectly to fillI'm not very knowledgable about furniture, tabletop or full scale, but I do know, from looking at a whole lot of tabletop scale chests, that this is of a different ilk than most described as salesman samples; it is truly that, or an apprentice piece, not a piece of doll furniture, and a rare one in my experience for being what I think would correctly be called a step back cupboard, with three drawers below and glass doors encasing three shelves above.