Saturday, 19 September 2015

Friday, 18 September 2015

Turn and turn about?

 I know these will not challenge you but I thought they provided a pleasant variety of some interest.   I would appreciate your ideas of dating for them.
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top forceps, left 2 pelicans, and right 2 toothkeys. 

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Tuesday, 15 September 2015

Sunday, 13 September 2015

East, West and gone West

Information please, dates, places of origin, materials and uses

1.

Qing dinasty Chinese tobacco pouch

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Spring gun

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Chinese carved bamboo and ivory cricket box ~ not for protection but to keep chirping insects in before there were transistor radios to listen to.

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Carved coconut-shell box

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Boxwood carving of the Chinese god of longevity,  shou-Lao



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Chinese carved boxwood figure of Nio holding a jingang (vajra).  
Niō (仁王?) or Kongōrikishi (金剛力士?) are wrath-filled and muscular guardians of the Buddha standing today at the entrance of many Buddhist temples in East Asia in the form of frightening wrestleresque statues. They are  dharmapala manifestations of the bodhisattva Vajrapāṇi, the oldest and most powerful of the Mahayana Buddhist pantheon


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A pair of wooden dancing figures, carved by people of the Shan tribe in Burma


Saturday, 12 September 2015

Appealing, striking or outstanding items etc....

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3a.
These items of footwear were called chopines in France and have been worn by ladies of elevated status since the middle-ages. They served the same purpose as pattens.