Red and White Hand-painted Fire Exit Arrow Sign with Perfect Patina antique needlepoint The puzzle top opens and

The puzzle top opens and closes through three moves--first swinging out the short top piece of the lid

(More about Islamic embroidery here

with a long handle

The sweetgrass has broken in one spot on the body of the basket and in one area along the edge of the lid

It still looks great

Red and White Hand-painted Fire Exit Arrow Sign with Perfect Patina antique needlepoint The puzzle top opens andIn my younger days I spent some time as an art critic, and I can't look at this terrific Fire Exit sign now without wanting to write about it in conceptual terms, though I'm pretty certain that was not its maker's intent! But whether or not fully aware, what they definitely managed to do was to create a very singular copy of a ubiquitous utilitarian sign a gorgeously painterly version that as such also (re)invests the language of the sign with new and