Large Carved and Painted Penguins - A Couple dowry basket painted on both sides

painted on both sides

and researching them enough to have a general sense of what they are

I'm finding myself looking for little tokens of love or friendship that might be readily popped in the mail to share with dear ones near or far

and appears to be studying the engraved decoration around the edges of the matchbox holder upon which he sits

but structurally just fine

Large Carved and Painted Penguins - A Couple dowry basket painted on both sidesI thought about selling these two individually, but as I photographed them realized they really are a couple (he's taller, she's wider) so thought best to keep them together, including for the fact that they're plenty large and heavy to function as bookends (or doorstops for that matter; they're 2+ lbs each.) I purchased them from a seller who found them at an estate sale in Alabama but don't know who made them; they're carved of solid wood, thickly