Brown Glazed Stoneware Puzzle Jug antique tramp art frame with a hand and face

with a hand and face in pale yellow and hair and perhaps a foot rendered in graphite) represents an angel of sorts

he's got a nice weight--no falling off the wall for this one

And this little humbly sewn together book

Poirer's work often included riddles and rebuses

like they always existed in the ether and were just waiting to be put to paper

Brown Glazed Stoneware Puzzle Jug antique tramp art frame with a hand and faceI did not know about puzzle jugs until I found this piece, but have since learned there is a long history of vessels like this the earliest example British and dating back to the 1300s with holes around the lip, designed to frustrate anyone who should try to pour or drink from them, and typically with text on the body of the vessel taunting someone to try. The incised text on this one reads: "Come gentlemen and try your skill I'll hold a wager if you