In quieter moments, I also engage my conservatorial skills with other challenging projects. When our parents had passed on, my Brother acquired from their estate a rather ugly-looking little ebony man eating a watermelon, mounted on a box; by rocking a small side knob, he lofted the melon to his mouth which opened and closed. A little research revealed it to be a Japanese wooden toy, made in Kobe dock area during the late 19th century when Japan opened to foreign visitors following the end of the Shogunate period. Craftsmen and off-work sailors used to make these apparently to supplement meagre income.