Most Wonderful 19th C. Miniature Penny Rug/Candle Mat with Hearts Everywhere coiled grass or perhaps filling with peppercorns

or perhaps filling with peppercorns to scoop out as needed

--and they

unlike later ones with paper

a few of them straight out of a marvelous West Coast collection of folk/self-taught/outsider art

Feels to me like the sort of bunny that's creatively plotting surprises in the shadows

Most Wonderful 19th C. Miniature Penny Rug/Candle Mat with Hearts Everywhere coiled grass or perhaps filling with peppercornsI purchased this one at an antiques show in Maine from a dealer who had had it in her personal collection for many years, brining it out for the first time, I think just for me! It came as no surprise to me to learn that her field of greatest focus and expertise has been early pen wipes; if there were ever a candle mat that felt very close kin to a precious early pen wipe, I think this would be it. And if there were ever a thing constructed in the