SOLD Super Rare c. 1860s S.L Hills Double Sided "City Hall" Building Blocks victor rug stretcher unsigned but stamped Estate of

unsigned but stamped Estate of Jane Ritter (Ritter's wife

highlighting and undermining the framing of the print as it gives a hint of the larger picture

Really special

These have pretty pink backs and a little bleed around the edges of the diamonds

perhaps modeled on the former

SOLD Super Rare c. 1860s S.L Hills Double Sided "City Hall" Building Blocks victor rug stretcher unsigned but stamped Estate ofThe best known (and highly coveted) blocks by S. L. Hill (NYC) are alphabet blocks from the 2nd half of the 19th century, some flat and double sided; others cubes, and the most striking of them incorporating the same rich red as these. Founded in the 1850s, Hill was the first American manufacturer to produce blocks in mass quantity, and in the 1860s expanded to include building blocks among its offerings, which I believe is the decade when these were