Lovely, and Useful, Antique Writing Box / Writing Slope small carved doll and a striking one to

and a striking one to put on the table

--and also these great aqua X's across the unpainted chest of the latter

with one tiny flaw

A number of months ago I found a lovely vintage glass pitcher with hand-painted bluebirds

There are a few stains to the blue fabric on the interior

Lovely, and Useful, Antique Writing Box / Writing Slope small carved doll and a striking one toI first picked up this box (on a recent real world antiquing exhibition) just for its lovely exterior, but was happy to open it to discover it's a writing box, with a nice red velvet covered writing slope inside, which lifts to reveal compartments beneath it on either side, and a little drawer with recesses at bottom, too. I'd never actually sat down and used one of these before, but in fact is it both super useful and quite a pleasure, and in absence