THAT PRINTING BLOCK...

...I bought it  in 1970 from a disreputable friend from art college who'd turned antique dealer shark - let me have it for £4!! Believe it was made  in the very early 19th. century - it's a wee part of a huge design.

The top you see here is carved out of willow, in-filled with felt to hold the dye. This is backed by two layers of pine (extra) at right angles to one another...

There's a handgrip & there are hooks to link it to the rest of the ensemble - you can see from the splits & dents  how it's been bashed with mallets to apply the dye to the fabric - n'est-ce pas?