Another Beautiful Antique Brass Stencil Wheel, Allen Bros., 1868-1871 Patent painted folk art figure and I really love how

and I really love how the yellow stripe on what I'd guess is a ball turns right into the edge of the yellow alphabet block

I believe these would particularly have been used for polishing buttons on uniforms

Certainly used

with the first half of the alphabets printed on the left page and the second half on the right page of every spread

Another Beautiful Antique Brass Stencil Wheel, Allen Bros., 1868-1871 Patent painted folk art figure and I really love howI keep scooping up these antique stencil wheels whenever I come across them as I think they're just fantastic things. This is a very early one, with 1868 and 1871 patent dates (stamped on the face not once but twice) as well as a stamp for Allen Bros. Boston, MA, who would have been the distributor. In the case of this one which is in very good shape, with a nice warm, mellow patina to the brass on the face I love the back side as much as the front,