Large Antique Slate with Hand-carved, Numbered Grid Marx toy stove Happily it is signed and

Happily it is signed and dated (very specifically

faucet peeking out at far right

in a gesture that feels like a forever embrace

with nails joining them

Large Antique Slate with Hand-carved, Numbered Grid Marx toy stove Happily it is signed andThis terrific old chalkboard is too large to have been a student's school slate; rather I think it must have been used in a general store or other business context where an ever changing numbered list would be useful. In addition to the wonderfully worn, very sturdy wooden frame with jointed corners secured with wooden pins what I find especially beautiful are the hand written numbers, carved incised into the state itself, as are the gridded lines,