Spencerian Bird in Red Ink with Branch in Beak, 1896 Red Ink Drawing antique medicine bottle or perhaps a beloved waitress

or perhaps a beloved waitress who had worked there for 50+ years

One cross an echo of the other

by two brothers

Saint Francis of Assisi

so I believe it was meant for matches--which defines our butterfly-winged woman as a fire-starter

Spencerian Bird in Red Ink with Branch in Beak, 1896 Red Ink Drawing antique medicine bottle or perhaps a beloved waitressI resist a good number of Spencerian calligraphic birds, drawn on calling cards and sometimes on pages in autograph albums, as this was they're very lovely, but often one nearly the same as the next. No way I could pass on this dove though, finely rendered in red ink, branch in beak, by someone quite expert in the form, with quite a complex flurry of furling leaves framing it. A charming example, dated 1896 at lower left. 7 3 8" x 5 11 16". Very good