Antique Brass KING Apple Stencil, H.L McPherson, Boston cased photo Approx 8 1/2" in diameter

Approx 8 1/2" in diameter and in very good condition

or made by a fish monger (my guess) or to hang in a cobbler's shop

with many of the forms detailed on the lid of the box long since gone

with a couple of tiny hairline cracks that don't go all the way through and some dryness to the wood

Antique Brass KING Apple Stencil, H.L McPherson, Boston cased photo Approx 8 1/2" in diameterNow and again I come across old stencils cut for painting apple barrels or crates, but I believe this is the first KING I've seen, and as a lover of found language, how to resist? A gift fit for a king, I'd say and good in all sorts of contexts. (The King apple, red with yellow stripes and also known as the Tompkins King, was long thought to have originated at Jacksonville in Tompkins County, NY, but later that tree was discovered to have been