Marvelous Old Painted Wooden Rolling Frog Toy with In and Out Tongue writing kit This carving

This carving

Pen and ink

I was pretty excited to find a box full of these handmade slides at the flea market this weekend--a box in which many were rolled up in newspaper from 1945

and the pitcher filled with fresh cream

Marvelous Old Painted Wooden Rolling Frog Toy with In and Out Tongue writing kit This carvingTotal delight! My guess is that this rolling frog is early 20th century Japanese, of a kin to the older turned and painted Japanese apples I like so much, often with games inside. The hand painting on him is glorious, with gilded spots all over, and great red and orange for the wheels. And then this red wooden tongue that goes in and out as he rolls along. Definitely a rare one, and a complete and total charmer. 3" w x 3 1 8" l (3 5 8" tongue out) x 2