Early 19th century English handmade cobweb three-dimensional watercolor. The focus of the piece is a watercolor illustration of a small country home, executed on an intricately cut circular piece of paper. The circular illustration is threaded at its center with a small string and mounted, around its outer rim only, to a single sheet of paper. By lifting the center of the watercolor by the attached thread, the lattice cuts open (with a cobweb effect) revealing a watercolor picture underneath, which here depicts four mice huddled around morsels of cheese. Such cobwebs designs were also known as beehives and birdcages, and were popular in their printed form as valentine cards in 19th century England.

At the head of the sheet is a poem in six lines, reading: "Beneath is a residence, cheerful though small / Give it what name you please except Liberty Hall / It is well fenced, and airy, yet some people say / The guests who once enter can n'er get away / Pray lift the latch gently, & peep in with care / Lest the tenants you frighten, and their premises tear."

Architecture, Domestic > Great Britain.

Paper work > Specimens.

Mice > Pictorial works.

Cut-paper works.

Paperwork (visual works)

Cobwebs (Paperwork)

Watercolors - 1829.