Trompe l'oeil Carved Wooden Envelope Tofa wooden finger puppets Those teeth

Those teeth

who had a great collection of mid-century and contemporary art and design objects

I've polished it up a bit on the top and some more polishing could be done if desired

I'd guess fairly early 20th century

also known as Dead Man's Buff

Trompe l'oeil Carved Wooden Envelope Tofa wooden finger puppets Those teethI'm not sure if 3 dimensional objects can actually qualify as trompe 'loeil, but I'm using the term to describe this wonderful carved envelope anyway! First, it is the size of an real small envelope, and second, the manner of the carving in relation to the color and grain of the wood creates the appearance of faux shadows (on top of real ones), crinkles, and the bulk of a letter inside. I'm not good identifying woods, but it seems an ususual one