Lovely, Scarce Late 19th Century Nautical 14 Second Sandglass, Working character portrait and also like a metaphor--gruff

and also like a metaphor--gruff surface

There is a bit of chipping around the rim of base and a few small chips on the face just of one side--as pictured

those fat red crosses against the blue are pretty gorgeous

matted and framed

Occasionally I'll see something that makes me think about home staging

Lovely, Scarce Late 19th Century Nautical 14 Second Sandglass, Working character portrait and also like a metaphor--gruffI've always got an eye out for antique sand timers, but don't come across them too often, and when I do they are usually priced well beyond my reach. This was a lucky find, and a cool one, a 14 second sand timer made for nautical use. Sailors used this type of sand glass to measure the speed of a vessel: a triangular piece of wood connected to a rope knotted every 43. 7 was thrown overboard into the sea; one sailor would let the rope out, another