Coupler Couple, Earlyish 19th C. Iron Buckboard Wagon Couplers-Cum-Snakes victorian spillikins Not too long ago I

Not too long ago I was alerted to the fact that frames made for tintypes specifically are hard to find--and frames made specifically for tiny gem tintypes I think all the more so

functioning just fine

fanged mouth

it was as the subject of a painting by British artist Francis Barraud that he later became an icon

(Of course it's easily removed

Coupler Couple, Earlyish 19th C. Iron Buckboard Wagon Couplers-Cum-Snakes victorian spillikins Not too long ago IReally fun to find these, purchased from the same Lancaster, PA dealer as a great mid 19th c. crooked neck Knickerbocker stoneware beer bottle that I listed and sold last week. I know from him that they are couplers (joining pieces) from an early American buckboard wagon, which at some point accrued two eyes each, transforming them into snakes! Beautiful forms and very satisfying physicality to the iron to begin with, and of course all the better