Pioneer WATER, Resonant and Perfectly Patinated Old Cast Iron Street Water Valve Cover brass seal I found these this past

I found these this past summer at a flea market close to me and just pulled them out again--and was struck anew by the lovely and painstakingly executed passages of ornament on them

and perhaps feels all the holier for my lack of capacity to readily translate it

and the stuff of nightmares especially for girls with very long hair (and their mothers who have to comb them out

" On the bottom of each of their pieces also appears the species of the particular mushroom represented--in this case the first of the two words is a bit difficult to read because of a tiny chip in the glaze at the end of the first word but it looks like "Naucana Christinae"--and I must say is quite a lovely species

This one has a blank circle at the center of one side where the monogram would be carved (and still could be

Pioneer WATER, Resonant and Perfectly Patinated Old Cast Iron Street Water Valve Cover brass seal I found these this pastYou know I love found language (and what a resonant phrase here), and sometimes a great old cast iron object too. And I find the the graphic punch and clarity of the lettering on this just completely satisfying. This would have functioned as a street water valve access cover for a municipal water system, I believe. I found it in mid coast Maine and have since found one other example out there of this particular Pioneer Water cover, but in nothing like