SOLD 4:48, Unusual, Excellent, Rather Mysterious Old Painted Velvet Clock Pin Cushion chrome bakelite gripper The pencils are a mix

The pencils are a mix of Compton's

all stained black but for the pink nose

And just the best white lettering against this sunny yellow

this would no doubt be it

made of cigar box wood

SOLD 4:48, Unusual, Excellent, Rather Mysterious Old Painted Velvet Clock Pin Cushion chrome bakelite gripper The pencils are a mixThis struck me as so unusual when I found it, and indeed I can't find any other example of old pin cushion with a stencil painted clock face like this out there anywhere. And what to make of the very specific position of the hands, marking 4: 48 precisely? One sometimes sees 19th century pin cushions made to celebrate a birth (particularly with messages spelled out in stick pins); perhaps the time here marks the moment of a child's arrival in the