DIA400xH150mm, China
This is a bamboo weave box normally used for storing small items and for keeping offerings. The lacquer coating on the interior makes the box more air tight. The lacquer on the gives the opportunity for gold line decorative painting to be drawn on top if any.
DIA80xH100, China
This is a bronze compartment box for keeping small accessories.
I wonder if in the old days there would be a store like Muji selling a selection of compartments boxes for organisation of small items.
DIA70xL280mm, Thailand
This is a powder horn, a container for carrying gunpowder. It is made with a a buffalo horn with a nonferrous metal for the base and the spout. Powder horns were very common at a time when muzzle loading guns are used, people would store their black powder for ammunition reloads. As the gun making technology advanced with the same ignition process, the need for carrying the powder horn diminished.
DIA300xH140mm, China
This wooden box is made out of single piece of wood, with the void area taken out using a lathe. The wood would be fixed and mounted, with the spindle (a spinning mechanism powered by foot paddle in the old days), it is spinned around on axial. The wood is then hollowed out with a tool held against the spinning piece of wood.
DIA180xH80mm, China
This is a pewter sandalwood burner. Sandalwood is a fine grain plant which can retain its fragrance for decades, however it is also one of the slowest growing tree. To use the burner, lay in a line small piece of sandalwood (size of a toothpick) on the burner, covered with sandalwood powder and light at one end. Wood from the center of the bark and its root has the strongest fragrance.
DIA330xH200mm, China
This is a beautifully weaved bamboo basket, it would have been used for keeping fruits or any offering that would require airing.
The traditional bamboo weaving apprenticeship training is hard; for the first 3 years weaving is taught an practice by making bamboo mat. Only when it has been perfected, one is then taught on more complex object like basket. The training takes about 10-12 years when one mastered skills and techniques of all kind of bamboo objects is qualified to be a bamboo artisan. These kind of training and craftsmanship is fading in China as youngsters see better prospect in blooming factories in the city.
W100xL300mm, China
This is a silk embroidered wallet, He Bao (荷包). For a long time, I thought the word He has to do with lotus (荷花) but in fact its from the word (负荷) – loading. In the old days (this going back to Han dynasty), there are no pockets in the Chinese costumes, these He Bao are developed to keep essential items such as the seal, money, handkerchiefs, etc. In the beginning they are more of a concept for a small sack that are made of leather, can be hung by the waist, carried by hand or as a small rucksack. By Qing dynasty, they became a popular fashion accessory, made of silk and embroidered. They will be hang or kept at the waist band, apart from the wallet, the fashionable gentleman would also have in his waist band, a hand fan, aromatic sac, pocket knife etc. This is folding He Bao, one of the embroidery side would hang out of the waist band while the other 2 flaps securely tuck in. Embroidered on the wallets are word of blessings; happiness, good fortune, longevity, 5 generations together.
DIA150XH50mm, China
This is bowl for rinsing calligraphy brushes, these type of bowls has this specialised function but at the same time is give an artist design freedom. Though it can be made of varies material (jade, ivory, horns, enamel, agate), the ceramic version is the most popular. This is a green glaze Bi Xi most probably from the Shi Wan kiln.
W100xL230xH100mm, China
A lacquer box with painted dragon and phoenix which comes with 2 levels and 3 circular compartments. This is probably a box for storing small incense but our customers found it to be a good idea to use it for storing stationary.
W70xL140xH50mm, China
Dont be mislead by the tabloid title, this is in fact a piece of stationary, a copper box for keeping seals and seal paste. In China seal was the form of identification, a bit like the rubber stamp which is officially recognized. The seal of the Emperor would represent the Emperor himself. In the old days, most people will at least own a set of personal seal, but for artist and intellectuals they will own also a leisure set and a studio set, for each set there will be a collection of a seals. There are a long culture for seals; the stone, the text, the design and the craftsmanship are all refined and specialized.
Mountain Folkcraft 