A hand painted Sicilian folk art cart is to auction at California Auctioneers and Appraisers on March 17.

Considered national treasures, these culturally valuable, antique folk art carts are no longer allowed to be exported from Sicily. The rare and fascinating cart, which was imported to Chicago in 1995, carries a $2,500-5,000 estimate.

Sicilian folk art originated in the early 19th century - the cart is thought to be a product of this period.

The beautiful antique cart has been elaborately hand painted with regionally emblematic battle scenes

Elaborately decorated with traditional military scenes, as well as emblems of the region, the unusual item is guaranteed to garner a great deal of interest come auction day - whether or not such interest will translate into bids, however, only time will tell.

Here at Paul Fraser Collectibles we currently have a wide range of similarly inspiring unique collectibles in stock.

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