Lush Victorian Sea Moss Composition with Cut Paper Urn, Mid 19th Century, Period Oak Frame spill but perhaps no one needs

but perhaps no one needs a collection of four

Sophie Newcomb Memorial College in New Orleans (now associated with Tulane)—which if you are not familiar with

I think this is pretty incredible

with surface patina (including some grime that could be cleaned off though I wouldn't touch it) and what feels like some softening to its edges from handling

10 7/8" x 8 13/16"

Lush Victorian Sea Moss Composition with Cut Paper Urn, Mid 19th Century, Period Oak Frame spill but perhaps no one needsOccasionally I'll see a Victorian dried flower composition with a cut paper element, but I don't believe I've ever seen a sea moss picture like this before, with that black paper urn evoking a theorem painting stencil as well as a cut paper silhouette portrait, and I think locating it c. 1850s or so. I love sea moss pressings of all sorts (including for the fact that sea moss gathering represented an acceptable way for young women to get out in nature