Card-playing Men-in-a-Bottle

Submitted by Douglas Wood August 20th, 2011

I wasn’t going to list this because it didn’t strike me as “kitsch” so much as folk art, but after seeing Bob’s penny-in-a-bottle listing and reading the ensuing discussion, I thought I’d put it up here so someone can explain how this was created.  Hope Snappy P weighs in– do you think this was actually assembled inside the bottle, or was the bottle blown around the carving?  I did some research and saw a similar Men-in-Bottle item on the Internet at a gallery and theirs was described as being outsider art from the 30’s in the Pennsylvania area.

Here’s a close-up of the men:

3 Responses to “Card-playing Men-in-a-Bottle”

1. 

   Allee Willis

   Have never seen anything like this before. Where did you get it?

   The way the men are constructed it totally looks like they could move.

   Are the features burned in or done with pen or pencil?

   This also has a hump in the bottom just like Bob’s penny bottle (https://www.alleewillis.com/awmok/kitschenette/2011/08/19/how-do-they-get-a-penny-in-a-bottle/0. Do ships in a bottle usually have that hump?

   August 20th, 2011
   • 

     Douglas Wood

     I found this at an estate sale. Looks like the features are burned in rather than drawn in.

     August 22nd, 2011
2. 

   k2dtw

   So cool, I spotted what looks like the wood burning details too!!!
   Never, ever seen one like it…

   August 20th, 2011