Antique Folk Art Hand-carved Snake in a Box! antique package quite a long time ago

quite a long time ago I believe

with a small clean tear along the right edge

and with these two wonderfully trailing inky black lines lending just a bit of definition and also tension

including around the edges of the bottom black-painted wood piece

Plus a bright baby blue interior

Antique Folk Art Hand-carved Snake in a Box! antique package quite a long time agoHandmade boxes with surprise carved snakes inside seem to have become a thing right around 1900, which is about how old I'd guess this one is. Sadly, the slide top lid to this lovely grain painted wooden box is long gone, but a string attached to the snake inside does the trick for making him emerge! The snake itself is pretty terrific I think, with hand painted details (in ink I believe) and tiny nails for eyes, and a knot in the string can be used