AMERICAN PRODUCE, Big, Beautiful, Iconic Feeling Antique Brass Stencil

I found this one in New Hampshire, near the Vermont border, hanging on a white wall with a bit of air around it and it struck me as just the most perfect thing--elegant, radiant, and iconic feeling in its spare concision: AMERICAN PRODUCE.  With the letters placed, and spaced, just right in relation to the hanging tab, as if arching across the face of a clock, 12-3 and 6-9.  And of course these two words, singularly and together, open up a whole world of associations and resonances, making for infinite potential interesting hanging contexts! Golden like the sun, too.

16” x 18” and in beautiful antique condition, c. last quarter 19th c. Color and patina on the brass is glorious. Center of the R is missing and there is a small tear to the brass at the bottom of that letter, minor.