Essex Crystal Style White Cat Stick Pin eye exam but making one wonder a

but making one wonder a bit about the context in which this was made and hung

which at least according to one source were used to carry cooked food to monasteries—an offer to the monks as an act of merit-earning

) measures 3 3/8" t x 2 1/8" w as point of reference

As Puget Sound is mentioned I'd think its maker was from the Pacific Northwest

Essex Crystal Style White Cat Stick Pin eye exam but making one wonder aI didn't know these were a thing, but have learned that they very much are, some quite finely done, this one more humble but I think pretty charming still. Essex crystals are also known as 'reverse intaglios, ' made of a cabochon of colourless rock quartz that has been carved on the flat side after which the details of the design are painted, creating a three dimensional 'trompe l'oeil effect'. I believe that is the case here, or at least it was made,