C. 1840s French Maison Berville Full Box of "Venetian" Charcoal Sticks ruled paper A pretty good

A pretty good

With what I believe are all the original wires joining the figure's limbs

and thus to my eye making it quite an empathetic creature

and the binding is a bit fragile but it is holding together more or less ok and the writing throughout is dark and clear

C. 1840s French Maison Berville Full Box of "Venetian" Charcoal Sticks ruled paper A pretty goodThese is a scarce French box of "Venetian" charcoal sticks, distribued by the Maison Berville in Paris and dating to about 1840; I found one box of them just like this in the digital collection of the Huntington Library. I've got a thing for antique art supplies (so romantic feeling, and as embodiments of creative potential) and for French paper labels, too, and what is purer more immediate and essential feeling than a box full of charcoal twigs? Rich