Make Do Folk Art Carved and Painted Two-Faced Baluster Man faces with a perimeter of braided

with a perimeter of braided sweetgrass on the face and side of the lid

I have not found another like it and really think it is quite a special piece

" which became the title of his autobiography

I picked this fabulous l pair of vintage Kuna Mola from among a large collection of them at the estate sale of an artist and galleries who dealt in them

or a clothes brush

Make Do Folk Art Carved and Painted Two-Faced Baluster Man faces with a perimeter of braidedI could not resist bringing this piece into my care, at least for a bit! A great example of creative "make do" resourcefulness, it's an old stair baluster into which little faces were carved on both sides of one end, each with its own personality: one seeming almost on the verge of cracking a smile; the other looking quite distressed! (The eyebrows are my favorite.) And at the other end, what could definitely read as a phallus! Late 19th century or so