{"product_id":"hand-carved-and-painted-watermelon-slice-bottle-opener-folk-art-woodenware-c-1950-1975","title":"Hand-Carved and Painted Watermelon Slice Bottle Opener, Folk Art Woodenware, c. 1950–1975","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA wedge of wood carved and painted as a slice of watermelon, with a chrome bottle opener set into the narrow end.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe broad face is the flesh: coral red streaked with the fine radial striations of a cut melon, fading through pale pink to a band of yellow-white rind along the edges. Eight black seeds are dotted across it by hand, irregularly spaced and slightly different in size, the way seeds actually fall. Turn it over and the reverse is the outside of the melon, painted deep green over a paler ground.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe opener itself is a plain chrome-plated steel head — the flat, teardrop-shaped kind made to lift a crown cap — fixed into the tapered end with two small nails. The paint has worn through to bare wood along the edges, across the high points of the carving, and heavily at the grip, where a hand has closed around it several thousand times.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe object exists because of a bottle cap. William Painter patented the crown cork in 1892, and within a generation nearly every bottled drink in the world was sealed with one. That single closure created an entire category of small tool, and because the tool lived in a kitchen drawer or a picnic basket rather than a toolbox, it was one of the few implements people were willing to have decorated.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePainted fruit woodenware was a staple of the mid-century souvenir and gift trade — the goods sold at roadside stands, resort shops, and market stalls, carved and painted by hand in small workshops and sold for very little. Each piece was finished individually, which is why the seed placement here is asymmetrical and why no two of these are quite alike.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no maker's mark, stamp, or label, and none was ever likely applied. Objects like this were made to be used and thrown away, and the reason this one survives is the reason it is worth having: someone liked it enough to keep reaching for it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" cellpadding=\"8\" cellspacing=\"0\"\u003e\n\u003cthead\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\"\u003eField\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003cth align=\"left\"\u003eDetail\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/thead\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBottle opener\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eOrigin\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eUnattributed folk woodenware. No maker's mark, stamp, or label is present.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eForm\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCarved wooden wedge in the form of a watermelon slice, painted on both faces, with a chrome-plated steel crown-cap opener nailed into the tapered end\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMaterial\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCarved and hand-painted wood with chrome-plated steel hardware\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eNone\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ec. 1950–1975\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eVery good, with heavy honest wear. The wood is sound with no splits, cracks, or losses, and the opener head is secure in its seating with both nails tight and the lifting edge undamaged. The paint is worn through to bare wood along the edges, at the high points, and across the grip, with scattered chipping — this is use wear, earned, and it is most of the object's character. The chrome shows light surface tarnish. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eOne of a Kind — 1 Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt still works. That is the first thing, and it matters more than it sounds — this will open a bottle today exactly as well as it did sixty years ago, which is not true of most sixty-year-old tools. Keep it in a drawer with the corkscrew, in a picnic basket, on a bar cart, or in the cooler that goes to the lake.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe second thing is that it is genuinely cheerful, and small objects that are cheerful without being twee are harder to find than they should be. The worn paint is what saves it: a pristine one would read as a gift-shop trinket, while this one reads as something that spent a long time being useful to somebody. Left out on a counter or a windowsill it holds its own beside better and more expensive things. A note on care: keep it dry and wipe it rather than washing it — the paint is unsealed and soaking will lift what is left of it. Never put it in a dishwasher, and do not attempt to touch up the wear. The wear is the piece.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48021521498217,"sku":null,"price":66.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/IMG_3407_11f0e247-cf81-4afe-9953-ffe8dc1217fe.jpg?v=1788925484","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/hand-carved-and-painted-watermelon-slice-bottle-opener-folk-art-woodenware-c-1950-1975","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}