Posted 12 years ago
StumptownUSA
(7 items)
We recently acquired this piece and don't know what it might have been used for. It is a carved piece of wood measuring 6" in length and is decorated with a dragon design. We believe it's Chinese but not sure. The top comes off and it appears to have been used as a shaker of some sort. The top has four holes, all the other dots are decorative. The inside has a dark residue from years of use. Could it have been to separate tea leaves and dust? Any help would be appreciated!
Hi. I think it is a Chinese cricket cage. It might be a carved gourd.
The Chinese have collected them as a hobby for the last 200o years.
They were kept in these boxes or cages.
Yours looks to be nicely carved.
The sound of a cricket.
At night they were kept near a pillow.
Symbolic of loneliness and isolation.
They indicated seasonal change too.
They also symbolise fertility.
Nice article on them at this site:
http://www.insects.org/ced3/chinese_crcul.html
Wow, that's fascinating and very interesting article, I would never have guessed! Thanks very much for sharing your knowledge!!!
Hi that is a cricket house! or a way to take a fighting cricket to a fight or to take a pet cricket for a walk!! See my cricket house I posted if you lie!
Wow, hours upon hours of work gone into carving this.