Gourd Made from a calabash known as ‘Hercules’s club’, and engraved. Elongated and curved in shape, it is entirely covered with vivid scenes that are well worth studying: beneath the foliage of an oak tree, a man, dressed in Breton costume and depicted beneath the allegory of winged Justice – who is herself accompanied by a pocket watch – is escaping from the Brest penal colony? (the date is after the prison’s closure in 1858…). A gendarme watches him, as does a group of peasants. A portrait of a woman, a young fruit seller and a scene of children adorn this calabash. Bears the date and location ‘1870 // BREST’. Is fitted with two rope loops. 19th century H. 30.5 cm